It will be important to have a proactive response to the concerns of staff and patients as we get back to work. One of the biggest concerns will be your staff. They will want to know if they are safe. If they feel safe, then your patients will feel safe as well.
No matter where you are on your feeling of acceptance of the ramifications of this virus, you will need to err on the side of caution.You’ll want to do something different, something that is safe, something that is effective.
We’ve already talked about extraoral evacuation in previous member advisories. We are also placing a UVC into each of our air handlers.
What about gowns? My opinion is that there will be office clothes and home clothes.Your staff will likely not want to bring work clothes home to wash them. Our staff will change their clothes in our office, including shoes. While disposable gowns may be easiest, our supplier has enough disposable outer gowns for one day per month. Therefore, we are changing outer gowns and will be washing and drying them in our office. That may not be practical for some. And you may have to arrange for a cleaning service to do your gowns if you don’t have the room for a washer and dryer.
We have found a source for gowns that are readily available, https://directtextilestore.com/
Salvin Dental has face shields and KN95 masks. They have gowns that will be ready to ship in mid-May.
Prosafeproducts.com is recommended by Dr. Gordon Christensen. This company manufactures jackets and gowns, some of which they list as “FDA approved.” They have some items that are on a two week delivery cycle.
Once you have your PPE plan in place, publicize it to your staff and to your patients. They need to know what you are doing. Make a video of the new items that you have in place. Write up a document that every patient receives in the mail, email, and at the front desk.
If you have not yet received your PPP, organizations such as Marlin, Paypal, and Kabbage are taking loan applications. Marlin did not take our application as we had already applied through our bank. But Paypal did accept a preliminary application. Some in the IDS received their loans this past week. With the new round of funding, I hope that you receive yours. Please also note that the new round of funding included more of the short-term EIDL loans. Check with your bank on the terms and eligibility,