4.29.20 UPDATE:
Dear Patients,
I hope you’ve been managing as well as possible in this very weird time in the world. I finally have some good news and updates regarding clinic re-opening! There’s A LOT to go over so please bear with me and read through the following information regarding updated policies and procedures that are now in place and pertain to your treatment sessions.
Governor Brown has updated her position on elective medical care for medical providers (including acupuncturists) who have been closed due to the original order that came mid-March. Clinics such as mine are allowed to return to patient care as of May 1st with new safety guidelines and recommendations.
There are many new guidelines that must be navigated coming from the Governor’s office, the Oregon Health Authority, the Oregon Medical Board as well as the CDC and OSHA which mostly pertain to my workflow and disinfection procedures (I will be sharing these below) but also include your continued adherence to social distancing guidelines and precautions both in and out of the clinic, mask wearing during treatments and answering a pre-visit screening questionnaire.
First things first – I will be back in the clinic seeing patients starting Tuesday, May 5th on a limited basis. I will be working ONLY Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the time being so Ian and I can minimize the risk for ourselves and all our patients by working alternate days. I am also capping my patient load at 5/day in order to allow enough time between patients for proper cleaning and disinfection. We will reevaluate days and patient numbers as we work through this and will keep you updated. The online scheduler is live with these changes. Thank you for your understanding while we implement these new workflows.
In addition to the above, I have blocked out 90 minutes per hour treatment to minimize patient overlap and to allow for adequate cleaning and disinfection procedures. While this should ensure you are the only one in the waiting area if you’d prefer to wait in your car until I’m ready for you, just let me know and I’ll text you.
Our sanitation and disinfection procedures are as follows:
- All common touch points will be wiped with a bleach solution or EPA approved disinfectant before and after every patient – including all door handles, keypad and any other surfaces that have been touched in the treatment room and waiting area.
- Credit Card payments will be taken via square invoice (I will email you the invoice and you can pay on your own device).
- Hand sanitizer wipes are available for your use in the waiting area and hand sanitizer gel is available in the treatment room – please use as often as you’d like.
- The table will no longer have the heating pad in order to allow for more thorough disinfection, I will using disposable face cradle covers and sheets will be changed between patients as usual (the table, face cradle, bolster and arm rest will also be disinfected).
- I will be wearing a mask and washing my hands thoroughly and frequently. I will also use alcohol hand wipes as needed while in the treatment room.
- A HEPA air filter will be running in the treatment room.
- I will be minimizing bodywork at this time.
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In addition to the above I will be emailing you a quick screening questionnaire within the 24 hours prior to your appointment – please respond to it! If I don’t get a response I will be calling you before your appointment to confirm your answers. You will be asked the following:
- Have you been in contact with any sick person in the past 2 weeks?
- Have you traveled outside the state in the past 4 weeks?
- Do you have any of the following symptoms: fever, sore throat, “tickly” throat, nausea, cough, shortness of breath, headache, loss of smell, taste?
If you answer yes to any of these, it does not necessarily preclude you from treatment that day – I will just need more information to determine if it is appropriate to see you or reschedule your appointment for a later date. There will be no cancellation fees for rescheduling due to illness or if you have recently come in contact with someone who may be sick.
Upon your arrival to the clinic:
- PLEASE be wearing a cloth or surgical mask (you will keep it on for the duration of treatment). If you do not have one, a disposable surgical mask will be provided for you.
- Use the hand sanitizer wipes as soon as you enter the clinic, or if you’d prefer to use the sink to wash your hands, just let me know.
- I will be taking your temperature with a non-contact forehead thermometer, if you have a temperature over 99.6 degrees, I will send you home and reschedule your appointment.
- Continue to practice good social distancing precautions in and outside the clinic.
Thank you so much for making it through all of that with me, I know it’s a lot. I so appreciate your time and understanding with all these new changes. I cannot begin to tell you how much I have missed being in clinic and with all of you. I am grateful to be returning and know that we’ll all be figuring out this new reality together and safely.
Please let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to seeing you again.
Sincerely,
Alexis
3.28.20 UPDATE:
Dear Patients,
I hope this message finds you well, and managing the current circumstances with as much grace and compassion for yourself as possible.
Given our current situation here in Oregon, with the Stay at Home order from Governor Brown – the Oregon Medical Board, the Oregon Health Authority and my state association have all strongly advised against in-person visits for now. At the time of my last email, I had optimistically hoped that I would be able to be back in clinic with you this coming week – however the reality is that Anatomy Acupuncture regretfully will be closed until further notice for treatments.
I, like probably all of you, wish I had some kind of certainty about all of this. I do not, however, and so cannot in good faith schedule out appointments for any particular dates at this time. I do promise to be in touch when I know more, and will keep you updated on when and how the clinic will re-open in the hopefully not too distant future. For those of you on my calendar currently, I will be cancelling all appointments for the upcoming week and will continue to do so on a rolling basis as the situation requires – thank you for your understanding.
In the meantime, I’m here via video-chat/telehealth if there’s any way I can support you during this time. Also please reach out if there are any resources I can share, or any questions I can answer via video that may help everyone!
Thinking of you. Stay well.
Alexis
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3.15.20:
Dear patients,
As I am sure you suspect, I am writing to inform you that I am closing the clinic for the next two weeks (effective March 16 – March 30, 2020) given the circumstances we find ourselves in with SARS-CoV-2 /COVID-19 and an abundance of caution.
This is a difficult decision for me as I’d like to be here for you and help with any stress and anxiety you may be experiencing in addition to your normal treatment concerns. However, despite this, after a lot of thought I think it would be socially irresponsible of me to continue to keep my doors open right now, and we are in a time where we all need to be thinking of the big picture and those who will be most affected. I would hate to be an unknowing vector for you or someone in your family just by virtue of the fact that my job is the opposite of social distancing (despite all the CDC recommended disinfection I’ve been doing). If you currently have an appointment on the books between now and March 31st, I will be reaching out to you to reschedule (and feel free to do so online if you’d like).
I hope you understand my decision and that being said, I am available to talk or video-chat if there is absolutely anything I can do for you – if you just need someone to listen or want some resources, or want me to walk you through some self-cupping or acupressure, please please don’t hesitate to be in touch (there is no charge for any of this). I’m here. I hope you are staying safe, healthy and out of contact with others if possible (remember this doesn’t mean you can’t go outside and walk or hike, just don’t be close to other people). For those of you that can’t stay home, please take care of yourself as best you can. And for those of you, like me, who do not have jobs that allow us to work from home and this comes with a big financial impact – I see you, and I’m sorry – none of this is easy. I hope as a community we’re going to be able to come together and figure this out.
Please see below for some resources and don’t hesitate to reach out for anything! I’ll be monitoring this situation and will let you know if there will be any further changes to the clinic going forward.
Be well,
Alexis
Health and Safety resources: If you think you are getting sick please stay home and contact the county health department and your primary care provider immediately. Here are some other resources from OHSU: https://www.ohsu.edu/health/coronavirus-resources Current CDC recommendations: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html Accessing food: https://oregonhunger.org/covid-19/, http://urbangleaners.org/need-food/(and if you’re able and food secure, please consider donating monetarily to any of these organizations) State and local resources : https://greaterportlandinc.com/covid-business-resourcesFor more information on social distancing and why this is so important right now:https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/science/coronavirus-math-mitigation-distancing.htmlhttps://www.ariadnelabs.org/resources/articles/news/social-distancing-this-is-not-a-snow-day/https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/57536/what-does-coronavirus-mean-for-mlb/ (good info, not just about baseball) Some resources for stress management Headspace (meditation – this is subscription app but the link is available free meditations ): https://www.headspace.com/covid-19 Calm (meditation, free trial): https://www.calm.com/ Insight timer (meditation, free app): https://insighttimer.com/ State (breathing app, paid, IOS only): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/state-breathing/id1449322496 Did you know even though libraries are closed to the public you can still borrow e-books and audiobooks online? I love the app Libby for this: https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby/