Our Response
Scheduling Criteria
Our updated scheduling criteria for patients (subject to change):
1. Any patient experiencing symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath, body aches or other “cold” or “flu-like” illness will need to reschedule their appointment to at least 14 days later assuming they got better in the interim and no longer presents any symptoms at that time.
2. Any patient who has or is in close contact with someone who has suspicious symptoms will also need to wait 14 days before appointment (or at least 10 days after onset of symptoms and at least 72 hours after no symptoms without aid of medication.)
4. Any patient can cancel or miss their appointment without penalty if they experience the above mentioned symptoms on the day of their appointment, in which case, they should not come in at all, and may need to contact their primary care provider for further medical advice.
5. All scheduled patients will be contacted within 24 hours prior to their appointment for a status check and be given necessary reminders and precautions for the day of the appointment. Patients will need to come with their own face-covering. (also see “On the day of your visit” section)
6. During the scheduling process, our staff will take pre-payments on the phone to the extent we can estimate for the treatment or procedure so that we can minimize handling and exchange of credit cards, checks or cash on the day of the visit as much as possible. This will also enable us to stock the necessary inventory and be better prepared for your visit.
7. New patients or new treatments will required necessary paperworks or consents be filled, reviewed and signed ahead of the visit to reduce wait times and for better preparation during the visit. Materials will be mailed to you with self-addressed, stamped envelope for you to send/bring back to us prior to your appointment.
8. Travel is no longer a limitation criteria for us but if you had been to a higher risk area or had been in a high risk situation without the benefit of masking/vaccinations, please schedule your visit according to your own assessment of safely and limit transmission to others in the clinic by wearing your mask.
On your visit
On your visit
1. Health status screening for each patient and staff within 24 hours of the appointment.
2. No person under age 18, or who is not a patient or staff, is allowed inside the clinic.
3. Any companion(s) of the patient must remain outside or wait in the car.
4. Any patient waiting in the lobby area must be masked regardless of vaccination status.
5. Patients can knock on the door to let us know they have arrived, then they can choose to wait in the lobby if masked or wait in their car until they are called to come inside the clinic.
6. The room will be disinfected between each patient. All treatment rooms, lobby and bathroom are air filtered continuously by ion-based air-sanitizing filtration that removes particles as small as 0.1 microns (the size of SARS-CoV-2 virus), and treatment rooms will be rotated as much as possible to let each room be unoccupied for the maximum amount of time before being occupied again.
7. All windows will remain open during clinic hours to allow for fresh air circulation, all room vents will be turned on while occupied. All fans will be turned on to encourage continuous fresh air circulation.
8. All staff remain masked. Clinician to wear eye or face shield and gloves while administering any treatment for the patient.
9. Patients will be asked to use hand sanitizer upon entry and will also be asked to come wearing a face-covering even if they had been vaccinated, as we may have patients who had not been vaccinated. If patient is in a room by themselves with the door closed, they may remove their mask if they had been vaccinated for Covid-19.
Why do we need the COVID vaccine?
On behalf of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society Executive Board and our Pre Medical Education Task Force (HUM PET), Caroline Connor, M.D, M.P.H. has created a presentation entitled “Immunizations and COVID Vaccines” to help educate the public on the facts around immunizations, the science of how they work and the details of the COVID vaccines.
We encourage you to share this information with your patients, your family and your friends.
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