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Posted by: Georgia Eye Associates in News
To Our Valued Georgia Eye Associates Patients,
In light of the recent governmental changes in Georgia regarding easing of restrictions for the medical community to evaluate and treat patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the doctors of Georgia Eye Associates and its parent company, EyeSouth Partners, have agreed to a plan to begin seeing non-emergent patients in our offices beginning MondayMay 4, 2020.
Our staff has been working diligently over the last month to set up safety protocols to ensure the utmost protection for our patients and staff for this transition. Currently we have planned for our Lawrenceville and Buckhead office to open initially, with the intent of all offices opening in the coming weeks. Our optical and contact lens department will be open for limited appointments. Northside Hospital and Northside Gwinnett Hospital have just reopened for elective procedures. We are in the process of rescheduling patient surgical dates. Those who have had their case postponed will be the first to be rescheduled. Please be patient our surgery schedulers will be reaching out to you in the near future.
For your next office visit, the following protocols have been implemented for your safety:
- Patient scheduling will be reduced to substantially decrease the volume of people in and around our offices. Prior to scheduling any appointments all calls will be screened for established risk factors of COVID-19.
- Virtual check-in: Patients will be asked to call our check-in phone number instead of approaching check-in desks.
- Patient distancing: We are asking that family members not to accompany the patient, unless required for patient mobility or communication. Patients will wait for their appointment either outside our office or in their vehicle. If this is not feasible, the patient will have the option to wait for their appointment in our waiting room that has been reconfigured to conform to the required 6-foot distances between seating.
- Hand sanitizing stations will be placed in multiple locations throughout the office for patient use.
- Sanitation: Examining rooms, equipment and computer stations will be cleaned and disinfected after each patient encounter. All public domains of the office will be cleaned throughout the morning, noon, and afternoon.
- Temperature checks: All employees before their shift will have their temperature checked and recorded daily. Our staff will only be present if they and their households are healthy and symptom-free. All patients will have their temperature read prior to entering the office. Any patient who is determined to have a fever or is a COVID-19 suspect will have their appointment rescheduled and referred to the local health department for testing.
- Masks: All patients will be required to have masks prior to entering the offices. Due to the lack of large supplies of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) for the medical community, Georgia Eye Associates is not able to provide masks to patients, so please bring this with you.
- Virtual check-out: Patients will call a check-out number at the conclusion of their appointment to schedule their next visit.
- Optical Services: Our Optical shops will be available for patients that are being seen in the office. Due to social distancing we are asking everyone else to call the optical shop and schedule an appointment.
Our intent is to have a “touch-free” as possible office encounter to ensure the compliance of state, CDC, CMS, WHO and American Academy of Ophthalmology guidelines. We will continue telemedicine visits for the foreseeable future while we ramp up office visits in a timely but safe manner. In the meantime, we will be continuously updating our protocol every week, and sometimes daily, to ensure maximal patient care with minimal patient exposure risk.
We look forward to the time when we will be able to work out of all four of our offices, which should occur in the next few weeks. This is a team effort, and you are a part of our team! Let’s all do our part. If you or anyone in your household has any respiratory symptoms, a fever, cough, or has had symptoms within the past 14 days, please do not come into our office. Give us a call, and we will get you rescheduled. We understand that this is constantly changing, and we will do our best to stay ahead of the curve to keep our team, our patients, and our community safe. We are united together to bring you compassionate eye care, keeping you safe and healthy. We look forward to seeing you at your next appointment!!
With Kind Regards,
The Doctors & Staff of Georgia Eye Associates
