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Covid-19 Update: November 16, 2020
Dear Friends and Clients of Tigard Eyecare,
On Friday, November 13th, Governor Kate Brown released new guidelines to reduce the spike of Covid-19 infections in Oregon. Unfortunately, Covid-19 case numbers are rising, rates of hospitalizations are skyrocketing, and too many families are dealing with serious illness or worse.
Our hearts go out to each and every one of our friends, family and patients who are struggling this year with so many things that are out of our control. We hope everyone can stay safe, that we can keep transmission rates low, and all of us can find some joy with our new ways of living.
First up- the good news about Tigard Eyecare:
We are not on the list of business closures to control the spread. We are open to see our scheduled patients. We will keep operating safely as we have during this year, for as long as we are permitted.
We are happy we can keep operating and are looking forward to helping you and your families.
Our practice employs 9 people from Doctors to Assistants to IT. We’re a tight knit group who are all grateful to be employed during these challenging times.
During this time, our Covid-19 protocols are unchanged:
- The door is locked to control access to the space so no one can enter without an appointment, to reduce the number of people in the office and allow for greater air turnover.
- All patients and staff go through that brief health screening prior to entry, which includes a basic health questionnaire and temperature check.
- One patient is allowed at a time in our reception area.
- Masks are worn by everyone at all times- all patients, doctors, staff and visitors.
- Doctors also wear eye goggles.
- Hand sanitizer dispensers are placed throughout the practice and in every exam lane- Patients may use it as often as they wish during an exam.
- Everything is sanitized between every patient encounter- all counters, chairs, exam equipment- anything that may have been touched by a patient or staff person is sanitized multiple times a day.
- Each of our 3 exam lanes has its own medical-grade HEPA filter with UV-C treatment to move and clear air in addition to our normal HVAC system.
- The office is flooded with ozone for 2+ hours every night to sanitize the entire space once staff have gone home.
- We’re following all recommendations by Oregon OSHA, the OHA, & the CDC to keep everyone safe and healthy.
None of that will change. We are all in this together. Your safety here is as important as our own. We are all working to make the best of this difficult time. It’s to our mutual benefit to stop coronavirus at the door and keep our families and communities safe. We respect your need to do the same for your families.
Now the bad news:
According to the Governor’s new mandate, Costco has to control the amount of people in the building to 75% of the max capacity allowed. That means there may be a line to get in the building, which is hard for everyone. Also, we simply cannot examine as many people as the old schedule allowed, as it takes time to thoroughly sanitize everything between patients. Along with restricting only one patient in the lobby at a time, we are really limited to how many people we can help every day. We did recently welcome a wonderful new Optometrist to the practice, which does allow us to accommodate more appointments on more days, but even then, there’s only so much space and time on any given day. It’s challenging and we would change it if we could, but everyone’s safety comes first.
That’s our bottom-line priority- everyone must feel safe in our practice during this pandemic.
If you have any questions- any at all- about how we clean, how we’re trying to protect ourselves or our patients, please don’t hesitate to ask. We will do our best to make your visit to our office as pleasant, safe, and clean as humanly possible.
