As of Sunday December 6 at 10pm the Shelter in Place/Stay at Home orders became effective. As an essential service provider our offices will remain open and in office, house call, virtual and “curbside” appointments will be maintained during this time. We encourage you to keep your scheduled visits with us as we are confident in our ability to deliver safe and superlative pediatric care, now as always. And, we continue to accept new patients.
The safety and wellness of our patients, parents and staff are our #1 priority. This is how we are tackling care and hygiene in our San Francisco offices and in connection with expanded house calls, virtual and curbside visits. The highlights include:
- Prescreening by phone will be required prior to all in-office visits and house calls*
- Well child house calls with vaccines now offered
- “Hybrid” well child appointment to minimize time in the office (example: Zoom/virtual for history taking and education + brief in office visit for physical exam and vaccines)
- Shots and appropriate brief visits, ear checks or similar can be done “curbside” (at our City approved white curb in Noe Valley)
- Acute/sick care house calls for some needs in San Francisco
- Phone or telemedicine (via Zoom or similar) for virtual visits when appropriate
- Enhanced hygiene and cleaning regimens in our offices
- In some cases, our professionals or staff may wear protective masks, shields, glasses and gowns
- All patients entering the office will have their temperatures taken
- We reduce the number of patients in our office at any given time to allow adequate social distancing
- As mandated by the California Department of Public Health all patients will be asked to wear a protective face mask in the office at all times
- To minimize the number of people in the office, we request that ONE parent only come to the appointment (and we will happily accommodate the other via video during the visit)
- Supplements and hygiene practices to enhance protection and immunity
*We will screen all requests for an appointment (in addition to prescreening all in-person visits) so we understand the potential risks of our patients, parents and caregivers. In some cases where COVID-19 is suspected, we may redirect you to known testing centers or phone lines at local hospitals.
Home Visits. For families wanting a home well child visit (including vaccines), we will accommodate your request to the best of our ability during business hours. Home visits will be scheduled based on availability, urgency and location of residence.
Procedure for Potential COVID-19 Cases. If you, your child, or child’s caregiver come to an appointment with a fever or exhibiting symptoms associated with COVID-19 despite having answered negatively to screening questions by phone, as a precaution you will be respectfully asked to reschedule your appointment to another day. There will be no charge for such a reschedule.
Added Office Cleaning. We have always maintained high cleanliness standards at our two locations. We are adding enhanced hygiene measures in accordance with CDC/EPA guidelines for general office and equipment cleaning and we have removed our exam room and lobby toys since COVID19 is able to live on surfaces such as plastic for up to several days. If you’d like to have toys or books available during a visit, please bring them with you to your appointment.
Supplements to Enhance Immune Function and Tools to Keep You Healthy. Don’t hesitate to ask us about new supplements and hygiene practices (like Briotech nasal washes!) that we are carrying or recommending to enhance immunity in your children and family. This is what Dr. Getzelman uses personally and recommends.
For more information on virtual visits or house calls and our fees, please call us. The above is subject to change based on evolving information.
