Moving Forward, Staying Safe
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we realize that many people are hesitant to get medical care or tests for fear of being around other patients who may expose them to COVID-19. The virus will be with us for the foreseeable future though, and it will be necessary to continue to take care of your other health issues and preventive medical care during that period. We plan to be available to you to do that, so we’ve made some changes to how we do things to keep our office as safe as possible for our patients and ourselves, while keeping your visits with us pleasant, stress-free, and quick. Here’s what we’re doing:
1) We will be doing more telemedicine or phone visits to minimize the amount of time you spend in the exam room with the doctor. Many problems can be handled this way, so if you don’t need to come in to the office, we won’t ask you to do so. If you do need an in-person exam, we will likely do a two-part office visit: The first part will be a phone or telemedicine visit, where we will spend the most time discussing your medical issues, test results, and management. Then we will ask you to come in for an in-person exam. This will be a brief visit, since we’ve already done most of our talking.
2) We will ask you screening questions for CovId-19 symptoms or possible exposure when we call with a reminder the day before your appointment, and again when you arrive at the office.
If there is a concern about possible Covid-19 or other viral infection, we will not have you come into the office. (If necessary, we can even see you outside in your car.)
3) When you arrive at the office, we will ask you to call us from your car to let us know you’re outside. We’ll wave you in as soon as we’re ready to see you, to avoid having you spend time waiting in the office.
4) For social distancing, we are asking that you come into the office alone. If you bring someone with you to the office, please ask them to wait in the car—it won’t be long. The fewer people in the office, the better for social distancing.
5) You will be asked wear a mask at all times when you’re in the office, and sanitize your hands as soon as you enter. (We will be wearing masks too, any time we are near you.)
6) As soon as you enter the office, we will show you to an exam room and check your temperature and other vital signs. If you have a fever or other signs of infection, we will take extra precautions.
7) Your time in the office will be kept to a minimum, to minimize your potential exposure to other patients. We have adjusted our appointment schedules to ensure that whenever possible, we have no more than one patient in the office at a time.
8) Patient areas including door handles, exam table, and furniture are cleaned with disinfectant before and after each patient. We are using a lot of it!
9) Please remember that despite all the necessary masking, sanitizing, and sweeping patients in and out, we want you to continue to enjoy our warm, friendly and relaxed office environment, and know that keeping our patients comfortable and well-cared for is our first priority.
Employee Announcements:
Sieglinde Cupit continues to work in the office on a reduced schedule. She is working from 12:00 to 2:00 and will be focusing on bookkeeping and new patient referrals.
We are pleased to welcome Gail Armstrong who will be manning the front desk. Gail is the mother of 4 children ages 16,18,21 and 24. She worked with the late Dr. James R. Armstrong doing FAA flight physicals. Most recently she worked at Belles and Beaux children’s boutique. She has her degree in early childhood education from Baylor University. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.
