To our valued community:
We are doing our best to keep providing therapy to our patients in a safe and effective manner. Although therapy is considered essential in many cases, we feel obligated to weigh the risks of individuals navigating the public with the benefits of skilled hands-on treatment. As health care providers, we are ultimately charged with first doing no harm; there are cases where delaying PT would not result in negative outcomes. We urge you to let us assist you in making these decisions on a case-by-case basis and as the public health situation changes. Please find below the steps we have taken to modify our policies at the clinic; we hope you won’t hesitate to call us if we can be of assistance. As always, our primary goal is your health and that of your loved ones.
Be well!
List of measures taken as of 3/10/2020:
- Increase of clinic disinfection protocols applied to all hard surfaces and textiles using CDC recommended products and increasing frequency of sanitizing all high touch areas.
- Increased emphasis of staff infection control procedures including use of gloves, more frequent handwashing, and management of street clothes to avoid cross contamination.
- Mandated self quarantine of 2 weeks for staff following any travel on or after 3/4 or exposure to individuals who have traveled, been ill with respiratory symptoms, or been febrile.
List of measures taken as of 3/14/2020:
- Phone calls to all current caseload and scheduled new patients aged 65 or older and/or with one or more comorbidity (immunocompromise, cardiac disease, hypertension, diabetes, respiratory disease) recommending they consider re-scheduling in order to decrease their community exposure as suggested by CDC.
- Required all staff to self monitor their temperatures and not report to work should they or a family member become febrile; mandated staff leaving clinic should they become ill while at work.
- Encouraged staff to significantly limit their own unnecessary exposure to large groups or public places where they might inadvertently be exposed to coronavirus; consolidated trips to stores by designating one person in clinic to purchase essential items for all in a single trip.
- Modification of email reminders for upcoming appointments, outgoing voicemail message, and reminder calls requesting patients not arrive to clinic if they or someone in close contact have recently traveled by air, have been febrile, or feel ill.
- Relaxing of same day cancellation policy for patients who feel ill or in order to support the practice social distancing.
- Hand sanitizer placed at outside entrance to clinic.
List of proposed measures for week of 3/23/2020:
- Staff to increase screenings of patients arriving to clinic.
- Revise scheduling procedures to stagger placement of professional and support staff over the course of the day to minimize crowding in physical space.
- Revise scheduling procedures to stagger arrival and departure times of patient populations as feasible.
- Development of platform for providing telehealth visits if an in person encounter represents risk of exposure that outweighs the benefits of therapy.
