Covid-19 Update
Dear Patient:
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.
We are excited to announce that we will begin seeing non-emergency patients again on May 13, 2020. Please understand we are opening on a limited basis and our office hours will be different during this time of reopening. We appreciate your patience as we all adjust to new ways of providing exceptional quality dental care during this pandemic. We will be calling patients whose appointments have been rescheduled or cancelled as quickly as we can.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable.
Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations. With the current circumstances around COVID-19, we have added additional measures to ensure the safety of you and our team members.
Here is a list of what we have done:
We have increased cleaning protocols throughout the entire office.
Plexiglass will be installed in the waiting room to separate administrative staff from patients.
Curtain type barriers are being installed on each hygiene room door.
A Plexiglass barrier has been ordered to separate treatment areas between the doctors treatment rooms.
The consult room has been set up for virtual/remote assistance.
Air purifiers will be placed throughout the office.
Additional layers of PPE will be worn be each clinical employee (head coverings, additional masks, gowns, etc.).
These additional measures have increased the cost of doing business and therefore a PPE surcharge will be added to all appointments. The charge of $20 will be added to all patient appointments in lieu of increasing procedure fees. We have always tried to maintain our fees at a reasonable rate and will continue to do so.
You will see additional changes when you are here for your next appointment.
We made these changes to help protect our patients and team.
For example:
You will be contacted by phone several days prior to your appointment for health pre-screening.
Patients will be asked to check in over the phone from their cars when they arrive.
A team member will meet you at your car to ask health screening questions and take your temperature prior to entering the office.
We will provide hand sanitizer for you to use prior to entering the office. You may be asked to sanitize your hands periodically throughout your appointment.
To ensure that our reception and snack areas are kept clean we will no longer be using this space for waiting or treats. However, we will continue to have water bottles available upon request.
Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the office at any one time.
When able, patients will be asked to sign documents electronically.
Patients and employees will not be allowed to bring visitors to the office, unless medically necessary.
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lauren Simon and Team