Specialty Medical Clinics Bounce Back from COVID-19 Impacts Olympia Orthopaedic Associates and Olympia Pediatric Dentistry are back to pre-COVID patient loads with many new safety measures in place.
by Alison Bailey
“I thought the kids would think it was kind of scary at first,” says Dr. VanCleave, “...but they just roll with it.”
thurstonchamber.com
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe in mid-March, businesses across most industries shut down completely. Major medical facilities remained open, of course, but one sub-sector of this industry found itself in an interesting place. Specialty medical facilities had to cease elective procedures almost entirely but remained open to treat emergencies.
knew it was for the best in terms of the community’s health,” Ben says.
Ben and his team were able to implement a telemedicine system just one week into the shutdown. They continued to see follow up patients and even some new patients with telemedicine consultations. This ensured continuity of care and mental wellbeing for those patients “Elective surgeries represent a large part of whose conditions need regular check ins. our practice,” explains Ben Shah, CEO at Olympia Orthopaedic Associates (OOA). The governor lifted the ban on elective “Over those couple months, we were down procedures on May 18 and the team at to 20 to 25 percent of our volume.” They OOA was ready to reopen that day. They only saw trauma cases and urgent fractures had already made plans to comply with all and injuries that would cause long term of the Center for Disease Control’s new negative impacts to the patient’s health if safety guidelines. If you visit OOA today, they had waited for treatment. expect to check in for your appointment by phone and wait to be called in. All All of OOA’s staff members, including patients must wear a face covering. Upon Ben, went on standby. They were called arrival, staff will take your temperature and in to work only when they were needed. ask several questions about your current The majority of the team collected health before taking you directly to an unemployment during that time. “It was exam room. Any necessary paperwork can a very trying time financially, but we now be done online ahead of time. Thurston County Chamber VOICE
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