Is your office open/when will you open?

· We have been open, at the office, seeing patients throughout the entire pandemic with precautions. We do mostly telemedicine (phone or video per patient’s preference) and have been seeing patients in the office for physical examinations if needed after the telemedicine visit. Frankly, talking at length in an exam room with PPE and an air filter running is difficult for both the patient and the doctor so the televisit is a much more pleasant way of communication. We have not changed how we are doing things with the ups and downs of case counts and hospitalizations because COVID keeps changing and to change protocols every few months doesn’t make sense to us.

· Please remember, we must accommodate vaccinated, unvaccinated, sick, immunocompromised and healthy patients in our office. We want to be careful with close prolonged contact and small indoor areas. If either doctor gets long COVID (PCC) we would have to close our practice.

Why can’t I just come to the office in person for routine appointments?

· We are not returning to pre-COVID routine in-office appointments given the ups and downs of the virus. This does NOT mean we will not see patients in the office in person. We will just start with a telemedicine visit first and then bring patients into the office as needed for an exam. Since we are a small office, we are able to be flexible and do it this way. We don’t want anyone exposed at our office to anyone else who may be infected. Prior to COVID, 90% to 100% of the time of an office visit was spent in discussion which can be accomplished with a phone or a video visit.

· We simply cannot afford to get COVID in the office.

If we get infected with COVID, we could give COVID to our elderly and high risk patients. We would have to completely close our office for a minimum of 2 weeks. If we get long COVID (PCC) we will not be able to treat anyone and will have to close our office.

· We are responsible for keeping our families safe.

Family members of healthcare workers have 2 times higher risk of COVID than an average person. Our responsibilities do not end with our patients but also include our own families. Dr. Tsung has a 107 year old grandmother who lives with her. Throughout COVID, we have heard many sad stories of how an elderly relative died as an unintended consequence to laissez faire behavior. We do not want to be responsible for harming our own families.