COVID-19 URGENT UPDATE
COVID-19 Update 5/1/2021
May 1, 2021
To all our friends, colleagues and patients:
It has been a year now since our last COVID-19 update. Our office is still committed to our “new normal” as they are considered by the CDC as best practices in the pandemic environment. Over the past year, we have continued to ask screening questions of our patients prior to their arrival to ensure they haven’t displayed any COVID-19 related symptoms prior to their appointments. We have asked our patients to wait in their cars until their appointment times as to minimize time indoors. We have removed the number of chairs in our waiting room as well to maximize social distancing. Over the last 14 months, we’ve continuously monitored the data and the science involving the virus ensuring the safest environment for you, our staff and ourselves. Be assured we incorporated information from the US Department of health, the Centers for Disease Control, Occupational and Safety Health Administration and Ohio regulatory agencies to best serve you in the safest way possible. We thank you for your trust and welcome you to our practice where you can feel confident that we are looking out for you and your health.
Best in Health,
Drs. Roger Hess, Rebecca Davis, Miguel Defina, Jason Streem and Khawla Al-Johani
COVID-19 URGENT UPDATE 5/1/2020
May 1, 2020
To all our friends, colleagues and patients:
We hope you are well and have managed the challenges of the past 6 weeks. All of us have been touched in some way by the coronavirus, some worse than others, but we vowed to get through this together and we are almost there. Our heart-felt thanks go out to all those essential workers to get us all through this: our first responders, our health-care providers, food service workers, and everyone else who made sacrifices to help us through this crisis. We stayed open each day to be available for you should an emergency arise. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences if we had to change your appointment.
Over the last 6 weeks, we’ve continuously monitored the data and the science involving the virus in preparation for when we open ensuring the safest environment for you, our staff and ourselves. Be assured we incorporated information from the US Department of health, the Centers for Disease Control, Occupational and Safety Health Administration and Ohio regulatory agencies to best serve you in the safest way possible.
We feel it is important to describe our “new normal” so that you are comfortable with the protocols and measures we are taking. To begin, we will do our best to prioritize urgent care so those that have been waiting can be treated early to avoid further periodontal breakdown. We will review your health history over the phone when confirming your appointment and scan your temperature when you arrive. In order to continue social distancing, one of our staff will escort into the office bypassing the reception room whenever possible. We will also be scheduling extra time for every patient. Please come inside alone and we ask that others with you wait outside. We have placed barriers at the front desk so please go to the marked designated areas.
Rest assured we have been practicing “universal precautions” for decades meaning we take the utmost precautions to prevent transmission of diseases, these measures include sanitization of surfaces and sterilization of our instruments. We will continue to be vigilant in this regard. Your treatment will begin with a pre-rinse for 30 seconds. Additional methods and safety measures will be taken for your protection, some practices you will recognize, and others done behind the scenes.
Like you, we have taken this crisis very seriously. We appreciate your trust in the services we provide and want you to know we will do everything possible to ensure the safety of our family of patients and staff. Please feel free to ask us any questions that may arise or discuss any individual concerns you have. We are happy to speak with you so please let us know how we can help. Thank you once again and we look forward to seeing you soon.
Best in health,
Drs. Roger Hess, Rebecca Davis, Miguel Defina, & Jason Streem
COVID-19 URGENT UPDATE 4/7/2020
As we continue on with the Ohio Stay-At-Home order delivered by Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health, we want to update you on our current operations. The order has been extended to May 1st and, following suit, we will be only seeing patients on an emergency basis until that date. Any non-emergent, elective procedures and appointments must be postponed until after the Stay-At-Home order is lifted. Therefore, our staff has been diligently contacting all patients scheduled before May 1st to re-schedule their appointments. We are very sorry to need to do this but in an effort to limit person-to-person contact and slow the spread of the virus, this needs to be done.
If you are experiencing an emergency, we have a doctor in the office 7:30-4 Monday-Thursday and 7:30-2 on Friday. Please call us prior to coming so we can find the best time to give you all of our attention.
https://www.clevelandperio.com/infection-control-policy/
Very Respectfully,
Dr. Roger Hess (216-403-9449), Dr. Rebecca Davis (440-759-2743),
Dr. Miguel Defina (614-226-4365), Dr. Jason Streem (805-827-5831)
and the Periodontal Associates, Inc. Staff
COVID-19 URGENT UPDATE 3/26/2020
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO OUR FAMILY OF PATIENTS
First, and most importantly, we wish everyone well. These are uncertain times, and the only certainty is that together, we will get through this. We want to assure you we have staff available for emergencies, and there will be someone answering the phone daily. To ensure the health and safety of you, our staff, and our shared community, we are strictly following the mandates of the Governor and the Ohio Department of Health. We want to do our part to return to normalcy defeating this virus.
Secondly, for patients who are scheduled for surgery over the next several weeks, we are planning to resume normal schedules on April 7, 2020, but with daily updates, this may likely change. Please be assured we are doing everything we know to protect you and our staff. We will reach out to you to reschedule as required. If we haven’t been able to connect with you within a few days of your appointment, please call us.
Again, we will have staff members available to answer any questions every day over the next few weeks so please call with any questions, concerns or especially if you have a dental emergency. A doctor will be in the office daily to manage these emergency situations, and if necessary, call us on our cell phones (listed below).
Finally, we extend best wishes to all. Stay home, stay healthy, be safe, and we are encouraged we will get through this together.
Very Respectfully,
Dr. Roger Hess (216-403-9449), Dr. Rebecca Davis (440-759-2743),
Dr. Miguel Defina (614-226-4365), Dr. Jason Streem (805-827-5831)
and the Periodontal Associates, Inc. Staff
COVID-19 UPDATE 3/24/2020
Dear Dental Community, Friends and Colleagues:
As you have heard, our doctors, nurses and health care team at hospitals are in dire need of more Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Additionally, our first responders, such as our police officers, fire fighters, and Emergency Medical Technicians, also are in great shortage.
Since our offices are either closed or working on a very limited basis to see emergencies, we all have PPEs we are not able to currently use that are drastically needed. We thank you for your consideration and help with this important endeavor. Our assistance will help our medical community as we all work together to battle this virus. We are all in this together so don’t feel left alone. We will get through this mostly by helping each other.
I have spoken with the Eliza Wing, Chief Communications Officer for Cuyahoga County and she ask I pass along the urgent request below:
Cuyahoga County announced the opening of a donation collection point in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The State is encouraging medical practices such as veterinary clinics, dentists, elective surgery centers and other providers to donate surplus Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to support first responders and critical operations occurring in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Please bring any of the following items to the Donation Collection Center at 2501 Harvard Ave. in Newburgh Heights between 9:30 a m and 2:30 p m. Monday through Friday.
At this time, we have asked for donations of the following:
• N95 masks
• Surgical masks
• Gowns
• Eye protection
• Face shields
• Nitrile gloves
• Disinfecting wipes
• Hand sanitizer
Please bring any of the items above to the Donation Collection Center at 2 5 0 1 Harvard Ave. in Newburgh Heights between 9:30 a m and 2:30 p m. Monday through Friday. If you prefer, please contact us to arrange for a “communal” drop off.
URGENT MESSAGE TO PATIENTS 3/18/2020
Today, Dr. Amy Acton, Director of the Ohio Department of Health, signed the “Director’s Order for the Management of Non-essential Surgeries and Procedures throughout Ohio” which states that “Effective 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, 2020, all non-essential or elective surgeries and procedures that utilize PPE should not be conducted.” We will accept and adhere to this this order.
For patients who are scheduled for surgery over the next two weeks, we’re adjusting our protocol and schedules. We’ll reach out to you to re-appoint your surgical procedure. If we haven’t reached out to you in the next few days, please call us to reschedule your surgical appointment.
We will have a staff member managing our schedules over the next few weeks so please call if you have any questions, concerns or especially if you have a dental emergency. A doctor will be in the office daily in order to manage these emergent situations.
Very Respectfully,
Dr. Roger Hess, Dr. Rebecca Davis, Dr. Miguel Defina, Dr. Jason Streem
and the Periodontal Associates, Inc. Staff
URGENT MESSAGE TO PATIENTS 3/17/2020
As we monitor the current COVID-19 situation and constantly re-evaluate, we have again, decided to remain open but on a limited basis. We feel that this is the right thing to do. As many general dental offices are closing during this crisis, and although dentists may be open for emergencies, patients with emergencies needing a surgical solution need somewhere to go avoiding hospitals and urgent care facilities. This is the essence of our mission.
In order to comply with recommendations and “flatten the curve” we are modifying our treatment schedules to protect our patients and staff.
We are recommending patients older than 65 and those who are at higher risk postpone their appointments to after April 6 unless you’re having an emergency.
We are asking patients who have scheduled periodontal maintenance (dental hygiene) appointments to postpone their appointments to after April 6th.
We are asking patients who are scheduled for post-operative check-ups to postpone their appointments to after April 6 unless you are having an emergency. Our doctors and staff will be calling patients who have had recent surgery in order to maintain contact without requiring physical examination. Please let us know if you feel like you are having a worsening of your post-operative course and we will make arrangements to see you.
For patients who are scheduled for surgery over the next two weeks, we’re adjusting our protocol and schedules. We’ll reach out to you if we feel the need to re-appoint your surgical procedure.
We will be updating this page daily and we hope to be getting back to some normalcy in the week of April 6th. In the meantime, we will maintain diligence and utmost precaution in our office, regardless of the current or future exposure risks. We understand this a major inconvenience but please be patient with us as we navigate these uncharted waters. We will never know if we overreacted or did too much but it will be very clear if we don’t do enough. We are very sorry that all of us have to go through this but we will come out of it and hopefully better for it as well. Thank you for understanding your part in the prevention of spreading any illness.
Very Respectfully,
Dr. Roger Hess, Dr. Rebecca Davis, Dr. Miguel Defina, Dr. Jason Streem
and the Periodontal Associates, Inc. Staff
COVID-19 URGENT UPDATE
URGENT MESSAGE TO PATIENTS 3/16/2020
We have been following the news and information coming out about the novel virus Covid-19. Due to the nature of our work, it is in everyone’s best interest to do our part and make the hard decision to adjust our mode of operations so that we can help slow the transmission of this virus and flatten the curve. After taking the last few days to assess the situation, we’ve decided to remain open for now with some changes to our normal operating procedures. For the safety of our staff, patients and also to help prevent the spread of this virus and keep our entire community healthy and safe, we feel this is the right thing to do.
It is important to point out that we will adhere to any and all recommendations set forth by the federal and state governing bodies, and the Ohio State Dental Board, the Ohio Dental Association and the American Academy of Periodontology. We have always practiced universal precaution with respect to our disinfection of our facility and surfaces and sterilization of all instruments. These strict guidelines govern the way in which we disinfect and how to keep all patient contact fully isolated from staff and other patients. Practice of universal precautions means that regardless of what the particular pathogen may be, we should treat any and all with the utmost caution. We are very comfortable with our infection control protocols, after all, we made it through past crises.
For the safety of both our patients and staff, we ask that any patients who have recently traveled to recognized “hot spots”, have been in contact with someone who has traveled to those areas of high risk within the last 21 days, are experiencing any flu-like symptoms (fever, runny nose, cough, sneezing), or if you have been around anyone who has any of those symptoms, please contact us to discuss any upcoming appointments you have with our office. We may need to postpone your appointment until such a time when the risk of transmission has been reduced. If you are having a toothache or emergency, please call our office and as long as you are healthy and showing no symptoms, we will see you on an emergency basis.
We will maintain diligence and utmost precaution in our office, regardless of the current or future exposure risks. We understand this a major inconvenience but please be patient with us as we navigate these uncharted waters. We will never know if we overreacted or did too much but it will be very clear if we don’t do enough. We are very sorry that all of us have to go through this but we will come out of it and hopefully better for it as well. Thank you for understanding your part in the prevention of spreading any illness.
Very Respectfully,
Dr. Roger Hess, Dr. Rebecca Davis, Dr. Miguel Defina, Dr. Jason Streem
and the Periodontal Associates, Inc. Staff
Important Information Regarding COVID-19
In recognition of ongoing news reports and the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus, we realize our patients have questions. As dedicated health care professionals, we want you to know that we remain as diligent as ever in protecting the health and safety of our patients and staff. Our practice strictly adheres to and exceeds the standards for infection control by wearing personal protective gear, using hospital-grade disinfectants, practicing the latest sterilization protocols, utilizing single-use disposable materials, and more. Every effort we have in place is to ensure the safety of our patients and staff. We want you to know that we are monitoring this situation very closely, and we will keep you updated regularly.
Symptoms of coronavirus are reported as flu-like, with varying degrees of severity. While we do not know everything about this virus to date, individuals who are elderly and/or immunocompromised appear to be the most at risk of a severe infection. To ensure your health and safety, and the health and safety of everyone at our practice, please reschedule your appointment if you or a member of your household has a cough, fever, and/or flu-like symptoms. In addition, please reschedule your appointment if you have traveled to any areas within the past 14 days that are at high risk for contracting the coronavirus.
We thank you in advance and extend our gratitude for your understanding and cooperation. Together, we can help keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office, and one of our staff members will be more than happy to assist you.
Please view and share our latest COVID-19 Symptom Comparison Chart with your friends and family.
For further information, including measures to keep yourself healthy, visit the following links:
