Keeping You Safe: Coronavirus/COVID-19

(Last updated 5/2/2021)

Northwest Eye Surgeons has implemented a phased approach to reopen clinics and surgery centers.  As of May 11, 2020 all clinics and surgery centers have resumed full services. Our goal is to ensure everyone remains safe and healthy, and focusing on infection control and mask etiquette. We will also remain flexible in response to any new government guidelines or COVID-19 incidence data.

All patients and visitors must bring and wear a mask at their appointment. The mask may be either cloth/homemade or a commercially manufactured medical mask. Northwest Eye Surgeons may supply you with a PPE mask if you show up to your appointment without one. We reserve the right to supply patients with a procedure or surgical mask when necessary.

Keys to our success are based on cleaning, screening, mask, and respiratory etiquette.

Cleaning:  Staff clean our facility routinely throughout the day to avoid transmission of disease. We’ve arranged our clinics to maximize social distancing.

You may see staff wearing this pin who have had a Covid-19 vaccination

Infection Control Measures & Patient Screening:
In addition to frequent cleaning and rearranging our clinics to maximize social distancing, we are following these screening practices:

• Patients must wear masks to their appointment.
• Visitors are not allowed, unless needed for care-giving services like an interpreter or parent with a child.
• Early arrivals may be asked to wait in their car until their appointment time.
• Patients are screened at their appointment for symptoms of COVID-19, including a temperature check that will be logged into a Visitor Health Logbook.
• Employees are also screened daily for COVID-19 symptoms, including recording temperature in an Employee Health Logbook. All employees must wear a mask.

Staff, patients, and visitors are rescheduled or sent home if they’re experiencing a new onset of the following symptoms within the last two weeks:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

*These symptoms may need further evaluation by a physician/nurse/PCP.

Mask Etiquette:
We appreciate our communities rationing PPE to ensure resources for hospitals and essential personnel. We’ve adopted the following mask etiquette:

• Cloth or medical face masks must be worn by patients and employees while in our facilities.
• Patients must wear a mask to their appointment.
• Masks must not have valves. Valved masks let unfiltered exhaled air out, which puts others at risk.
• Employees who work directly with patients must wear procedural or surgical masks.

We also encourage continued distancing of at least 6 feet between others, and frequent hand-washing or use of appropriate hand sanitizers.

Respiratory Etiquette: Finally, the Northwest Eye Surgeons team encourages everyone to use respiratory etiquette:

• We provide tissues and no-touch disposal receptacles for patients, staff, and visitors to use
• When washing hands, use soap and water for 20 seconds.  Use  60-90% alcohol-based hand sanitizer
• Avoid touching eyes, nose, mouth areas with hands
• NWES will maintain adequate supplies, and place hand sanitizer in multiple locations to encourage hand hygiene

 If you previously delayed a procedure due to COVID19 or are putting off treatment for new symptoms, please read this new patient resource sourced from American College of Surgeons. It provides questions to ask your surgeon or care team. 

Thank you for choosing Northwest Eye Surgeons and we look forward to seeing you soon!