WHAT PROCEDURES HAVE WE CHANGED TO PROTECT YOUR HEALTH?
For the foreseeable future, many of our procedures will be different than they were in the pre-COVID-19 days. We now must do many more things to protect our patients' and staff's health.
(1) When we confirm your appointment via text message, the outgoing text will ask if there have been any COVID-19 symptoms or possible exposures to the virus. We also will ask you to review a written page with these items when you arrive for the exam. If we are concerned that you may have the virus or have had a recent exposure, we will need to postpone the exam. Some of these questions include:
(2) We will check your temperature with a "no-touch" forehead thermometer. If your temperature is elevated, we will need to postpone your visit. We will ask you to wash your hands when you enter into the inner office.
(3) YOU AND ANYONE WITH YOU MUST BRING AND WEAR A MASK TO YOUR APPOINTMENT. PLEASE, DO NOT USE A VALVED MASK. Dr. Gore and the staff will be wearing masks.
(4) We want to have as few people in the office at any given time. Therefore:
(6) While we have been fairly good in the past at keeping to our exam schedule, we believe that doing so is even more important now. Therefore, it is essential that you arrive on time. If a patient arrives late, that raises the possibility that the exam will finish late and there will be contact between patients in the office.
(7) Unfortunately, we have had to remove the magazines and cookies!
For the foreseeable future, many of our procedures will be different than they were in the pre-COVID-19 days. We now must do many more things to protect our patients' and staff's health.
(1) When we confirm your appointment via text message, the outgoing text will ask if there have been any COVID-19 symptoms or possible exposures to the virus. We also will ask you to review a written page with these items when you arrive for the exam. If we are concerned that you may have the virus or have had a recent exposure, we will need to postpone the exam. Some of these questions include:
- Do you have COVID-19? Have you had it during the last 4 weeks? Have you been near anyone suspected to have had it over the past 4 weeks?
- Have you or anyone you have been around had any fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, shaking, body aches, headache, sore throat, loss of sense of taste, loss of sense of smell, intestinal issues?
(2) We will check your temperature with a "no-touch" forehead thermometer. If your temperature is elevated, we will need to postpone your visit. We will ask you to wash your hands when you enter into the inner office.
(3) YOU AND ANYONE WITH YOU MUST BRING AND WEAR A MASK TO YOUR APPOINTMENT. PLEASE, DO NOT USE A VALVED MASK. Dr. Gore and the staff will be wearing masks.
(4) We want to have as few people in the office at any given time. Therefore:
- We would prefer that you arrive alone. If a second person is necessary as caretaker or parent, that is OK. That person will need to wear a mask at all times and will also need to verify that it is safe for him/her to be here.
- We have always spent a great deal of time with each patient and our practice has been a fairly tranquil place. Due to COVID-19, we are cutting back on our patient load even further. There will be a 15-minute gap between patients so that we can DISINFECT EVERYTHING IN THE OFFICE THAT THE PREVIOUS PATIENT MAY HAVE TOUCHED.
- Before, if someone wanted to visit the office to select glasses, have an adjustment, or pick up items he/she had ordered, spontaneous walk-ins were OK. Now, however, we will be scheduling those visits in order to minimize contact between different patients. For people who are here for a scheduled exam, we anticipate that they should be able to look at glasses after the exam.
(6) While we have been fairly good in the past at keeping to our exam schedule, we believe that doing so is even more important now. Therefore, it is essential that you arrive on time. If a patient arrives late, that raises the possibility that the exam will finish late and there will be contact between patients in the office.
(7) Unfortunately, we have had to remove the magazines and cookies!
