Thank you for being patient with the staff and providers at VWHA during this very difficult time in global healthcare. We’ve been actively updating our policies based on recommendations from the CDC who as you know are increasing restrictions regarding social distancing particularly in medical environments that increase risk for exposure. In that light, we are modifying our policy for the office regarding visitors to the following:
1. Only allowing the patient in the office.
We are doing our best to prescreen every patient for risk factors prior to coming into the office. We cannot effectively screen every support person as well, so we are trying to minimize patient and provider risk by limiting numbers. Please be cognizant of any risk factors your partner may have for the virus including flu like illness and help us by keeping them home if any risk is present.
2. No children in the office.
We realize your children are home from school, but we ask that you participate with our telemedicine option to avoid finding childcare in lieu of bringing them with you to your visits. Again, we are doing this for the safety of your kids, you as a patient, our other patients and our providers.
3. Telemedicine Appointments
We’re pleased to offer telemedicine appointments during this time. If you have an appointment that is non-emergent such as a well woman exam, our office will convert this visit into a telehealth consult and this will allow authorization for renewal of medication(s). Please schedule your well woman appointment in three months. For example, if you would like to discuss family planning options, painful periods, irregular periods, preparing for pregnancy, fertility questions, biopsy, ultrasound, bone density, mammogram, and lab results. Please call our office to schedule a telemedicine appointment with one of our physicians.
4. Urgent Appointments
If you have an urgent issue, please call our office and we will make exceptions on a case by case basis only.
Again, thank you for your patience. Please be kind to our administrative staff who are attempting to reinforce all these policies while attempting to keep you and your family safe and healthy.
5. Non-Critical Appointments
We strongly recommend that you schedule a telemedicine appointment to address any health questions or concerns. If you’re coming in for a simple well woman exam, we can easily reschedule your visit in one or two months when the risk of Coronavirus will hopefully have diminished.
