COVID-19: How We’re Keeping Patients Safe

Our office will begin seeing patients on June 1.

5/28/20

To Our Valued Patients,

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to a more stable and enjoyable way of life.

While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable.

Our office follows infection control recommendations, called Universal Precautions, made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the CDC and OSHA. We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued.  In light of COVID-19, these agencies have made some changes which we will now be incorporating into the way we handle infection control in our office.

We would like you to know what you can expect next time you are scheduled with our office. 

• Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you arrive for your appointment. Some examples of those questions are:
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  • Are you having difficulties breathing?
  • Do you have a cough?
  • Have you experienced recent loss of taste or smell?
  • Are you in contact with any confirmed COVID-19 positive patients?
• When you arrive for your appointment, we ask that you call us from your car and we will meet you downstairs, take your temperature, and review the screening questions again.
• Face masks are required upon entering/exiting our building. This is our preference and required by the Sonoma County health order.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter and exit the office.
• Our waiting room chairs have been removed. If you are waiting for a friend or family member to be seen, we ask that you stay in your car.  Accommodations will be made for parents of minor children or special needs patients who need support during their visit.
• We will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• Our snack/coffee bar has been removed. Water bottles will be given by request.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for disinfecting purposes and social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• You will also see changes in the way we handle treatment consultations, financial arrangements, taking payments and scheduling appointments.

Our plan is to start seeing patients again on June 1^st.  We will be calling to confirm existing appointments and reschedule those of you who missed your visit between March 16^th through May 31^st.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about our infection control and safety protocols.

Thank you for being our patients, neighbors and friends. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming you back!

Sincerely,

Dr. McCormick and Team