I am writing this as of March 27,2020. With how rapidly the world is changing it has become important to state upfront your exact time point. We would like to firstly provide some information about the new virus and secondly let everyone know exactly what we are doing with regards to services and minimizing risk.
The new virus comes from a class of viruses known as coronaviruses. It is believed to have originated in China in Dec 2019 likely from animal to human transmission. It is believed to be spread by respiratory droplets and thus have a similar mode of transmission to the flu. The exact mortality, or death rate, from this virus is believed to be between 1 to 3% although many experts believe this may be an overestimation as mild cases and asymptomatic people haven’t been getting tested.
From what has been seen, the virus presents the biggest risk to older individuals, specifically those over 70, and those with other underlying health problems. The other health conditions that have been noted to be associated with worse outcomes are lung disease such as COPD or asthma, history of smoking, diabetes, and hypertension. All of this information is rapidly evolving as the world learns more about this virus.
So how do you keep yourself safe? Similar to how you would keep yourself from getting the flu. Limit your contact with other individuals. Wash your hands frequently. Don’t touch your face. The virus can be on your hands and gain entry into your body via this route.
Hence the reason for the new social distancing policies enacted throughout the country. These have been put in place to keep the virus from spreading rapidly and having sick patients overwhelm hospitals. Exactly how long these policies will be in place is still unknown.
Even with the existing virus there are many services that cannot simply be put on hold. Treatment for opioid addiction is one such service. It is considered an essential service and the risk of forgoing it is greater than the risk of the virus. We realize this and are open providing all essential services during this time. Our goal is to have no interruption in treatment for our patients.
So what are we doing in response to the virus?
As always we continue to adhere to standard universal precautions in health care whereby our staff continues to wash hands frequently and prior to any patient contact. We clean/disinfect surfaces multiple times daily.
We are asking patients to update emergency contact information and to identify authorized individuals to serve as a proxy for pick up of medication should patients be required to self isolate.
We currently allow only 3 patients in the clinic at one time. Others are asked to wait in their vehicles until a patient exits. Our reception staff keeps track of the order of waiting patients.
All patients can expect to be monitored for and asked about signs of illness related to the new virus.
Our dispensing window has been modified and patients are now asked to remain a specified distance from the window.
We have begun using telemedicine for some counseling sessions and MD visits. If you are a Suboxone patient, this is an option for you so please ask if you are interested.
Our clinic hours remain unchanged during this time.
We realize this is a stressful, rapidly changing situation and that there are going to be questions that arise. Please reach out to us so we can help.