As you have come to expect, Families First Pediatrics continues to be committed to providing the best possible healthcare for our patients and your children. We are taking the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation very seriously and would like to provide an update on how our clinics are addressing your needs.
Sick Visits:
We encourage you to make health assessments of your sick children, as you would have done prior to the Coronavirus outbreak. If you have concerns, we encourage you to have them evaluated. Thankfully, COVID-19 appears to be a much milder disease in children compared to adults with the exception of children with serious underlying medical conditions such as diabetes or heart conditions. If your child has symptoms suggestive of COVID-19: fevers, body aches, sore throat, coughing, and (more so in children than adults) runny nose, but they do not seem otherwise ill, it is very reasonable to continue to watch them at home. Of course, if they have any difficulty breathing or you are more worried about them, please bring them in for evaluation. Ideally, if you have other children who are NOT being seen we request that they stay at home with a responsible caregiver. We ask that when you visit Families First Pediatrics that you and any child 2 years of age and older wear a mask. If you don’t have a mask, we will have masks available at the entrance and we ask that you please keep them on for the duration of your visit to protect our patients and our staff.
If your child has been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 or is experiencing symptoms, you may schedule an office visit. An assessment of the child will be completed and your provider will determine whether a COVID-19 test is needed. The tests are administered in our office and the results of the tests will be communicated to you through the provider.
Well Visits:
Despite the current global health concerns, now more than ever, we continue to recommend routine well care for your children. For twenty years, we have separated our sick and well patients and we are uniquely positioned to offer a safe environment for your children during this COVID-19 pandemic because it’s what we have always done. We will continue to separate our sick and well child waiting and exam rooms. We ask that you not bring any sick children to the well side. As stated above, when possible, if you are bringing a child for a well visit, please leave sick siblings at home. When not possible, we ask that you check in on the sick side to maintain a healthy environment for those who are well.
We will also be actively monitoring our employees for fevers and other signs of COVID-19 and will not allow them to work if they are ill. Additionally, staff that have been exposed to known cases of COVID-19 or have recently traveled to areas more affected by the virus, will be following the 14-day self-quarantine guidelines put forward by the CDC. Please be aware that because of these restrictions, we may be understaffed but we strongly feel that the safety of our patients and staff far outweighs the increased wait times our patients may experience. Though, as always, we understand how frustrating that may be for you and we will do our best to minimize this as much as possible.
We conveniently offer a telemedicine option with an FFP provider to better serve our patients. Call or visit us at https://ffpeds.com/patient-information/telehealth/ for more information regarding this service.
Thank you for your patience at this busy time. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Families First Pediatrics
