COVID-19 Protocol

As communities begin to feel the impact of the coronavirus (COIVD-19), we want to share with you the steps we're taking at Everhart Eye Associates to help protect the health and safety of our customers and employees, which is always our top priority.

We're closely monitoring local and national reports on the evolving impact of COVID-19 and, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization and applicable public health agencies.

Notification prior to the visit:

Prior to all scheduled visits, we are calling patients with the following message:

Our primary concern in the health and safety of our patients. If you, or the person accompanying you are experiencing any respiratory, cold or flu-like symptoms (fever, cough), or you have recently traveled to a known region affected by the Coronavirus, please call our office to reschedule your appointment. Thank you for helping us by taking these precautions.

Screening guests at clinic locations:

Outside the front door (not in our facility), we have a staff member stationed. All patients and potential guests will be screened outside the facility in order to determine if they can enter our clinic. At the screening station, we have a thermometer and a hand sanitizer dispenser.

Part 1: Screening questions

We are asking the following questions to patients, their families, transportation teams, or any other visitors trying to enter the clinic, prior to entry.

Question 1: Do you have a cough and a cold, or something else that might lead to an infection?
If YES, they are redirected away from our clinic, and asked to CALL their primary care provider (PCP).

Question 2: Have you used any public form of transportation in the last 14 days where you traveled beyond 40 miles of your home? If so, where hare you traveled?

Question 3: When traveling, or even near home, have you been around anybody who seems to have symptoms of a cough and a cold or something else that might lead to an infection?

If they answer YES to question 1, they are instructed to CALL their PCP. If they answer YES to any of these questions, they are being redirected away from our clinic. Patients that need to be rescheduled because of answering YES to any of the above questions are asked to CALL our office to reschedule, and we will reschedule 14 days from exposure date.

Part 2: Temperature reading

If our visitors pass the screening questions, a staff member will then take the temperature of each potential visitor. If the temperature is 100.4°F (38°C) or above, or 99.1°F (37.3°C) for those aged 65+, they are redirected away from our clinic and instructed to CALL their primary care provider (PCP).

If any patient or guest refuses to answer a question or have their temperature taken, the staff member will call the clinic lead to speak with the patient or guest. If the clinic lead is unable to resolve the issue, the provider will need to intervene. But only those who pass all screening measures will enter our facilities.

Part 3: Hand sanitizer

After passing the screening process, the patient and/or guest will use a touchless, automatic hand sanitizer dispenser.

Our sanitation efforts:

Our housekeeping and sanitation efforts in our facility continues to be above the industry standards. We're frequently disinfecting the often-touched surfaces such as door handles, countertops, keypad and restroom surfaces. We're asking all of our employees (and we urge everyone) to follow the CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of the infection.

We feel deeply for those who have been affected. Thankfully, as of now, we're not aware of any employees contracting COVID-19. But we have implemented guidelines that instruct employees who may develop symptoms or come into contact with infected individuals to stay home and follow CDC's instructions.

At this time, we will continue to provide ophthalmological care to the best of our abilities and meet the needs of our customers. If we become aware of any condition in our facility that would make it unsafe, please rest assured that we will follow the CDC guidelines until those conditions have been addressed.

Again, the health and safety or our employees and our patients are our top priority and we're committed to doing our part to help keep you safe.

CDC resources:

• People at Risk for Serious Illness from COVID-19
• CDC: Printable guidelines for what to do in workplace, school, or home
• Steps to Prevent Illness
• What To Do If You Are Sick
• Information for Healthcare Professionals (General landing page with lots of resources)
• What healthcare personnel should know about caring for patients with confirmed or possible coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Evaluating and Testing Persons for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings
• Interim U.S. Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure in a Healthcare Setting to Patients with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
• Healthcare Professionals: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers