With the ongoing spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) and the speed at which things are changing around us, we are writing to let you know that our office is taking steps to ensure that our patients, staff, and the community are protected. We are dedicated to your treatment and well-being and will remain open. However, we are minimizing the number of appointments to prevent overlaps and reduce the number of people in our waiting area. At this time, all appointments deemed “non-emergency†such as follow up appointments will be rescheduled until such time as CDC, AAOMS, ADA, AMA, VDA or other government agencies advise us to proceed with business as usual.
At Northern Virginia Surgical Arts, we have always followed standard universal precautions issued by the CDC, AAOMS, ADA, AMA and VDA to help protect every one of our patients and team members from the many infectious diseases that we are potentially exposed to on a daily basis.
For your peace of mind, these are the precautions we take EVERY time you sit in one of our patient chairs:
In addition to the above standard measures, we will be exercising a higher standard of infection-control in our waiting areas, including removing all magazines, toys, and other items that are difficult to disinfect as well as making it mandatory for everyone entering our facility to sanitize their hands. We will also be vigilant in ensuring that all common surfaces such as door knobs, reception counters, chairs and pens are disinfected routinely during the day. And while we love and value each of our patients, handshakes and hugs will be avoided for the time being.
While we are doing everything in our power to protect you, we also ask for your cooperation in making our office environment a safe one. If you have a cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, feeling tired/malaise, fever, or chills, please call our office to reschedule. We will be checking temperatures on all patients as they enter and anyone with a reading on or over 99.1 degrees will be asked to reschedule at least two weeks later as a precaution. You will also be provided with a questionnaire regarding any symptoms that you may have. In addition, to practice social distancing and to minimize the number of people in our waiting room, please show up no earlier than 10 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment. We also ask that you limit to one family member or friend to accompany you to your appointment. Your friend/family member will also be provided with the same questionnaire and will be requested to wait in the car to minimize the number of people in the waiting area.
Instituting these higher standards will help keep you and our entire team safe until this health risk subsides. We care about each of you and look forward to seeing you again for your next appointment.
Sincerely,
The Doctors and Staff of Northern Virginia Surgical Arts/The Spa Clinic