First and foremost, we hope that you and your family are staying healthy and safe during this time.
With Communication being at the center of our Core Values, it’s important for us to continue to be open and honest as we navigate through the current circumstances.
This is an extremely difficult time as we contemplate whether to stay open or close our doors. According to the most recent official guidelines, healthcare businesses are still considered essential services, and we deeply recognize our responsibility to continue providing care to patients who need it. Chronic pain won’t just go away, and the need for post-surgical rehabilitation isn’t negated by this pandemic. More importantly, we have no idea how long this will continue, and with most people staying home and likely moving much less than before, conditions can certainly worsen and regress.
While we recognize how we, as an organization, contribute to the narrative and the outcome of this pandemic and its effect on our patients, we must also consider the deep impact it has on our employees. We are currently open for care that is medically necessary (experiencing pain), but we have taken the necessary steps and will continue to do so to ensure our best chances in helping our clients while ensuring everyone’s safety.
Since our last update, we have implemented the following measures:
Moved all treatment tables, True Stretches, and other equipment to create a safe distance between patients and staff, including the use of outside spaces
Converted to mostly 1-on-1 care, unless any two patients have otherwise been determined as very low-risk
Requiring all patients to wash their hands upon checking-in prior to starting treatment and again before leaving our facilities
Asking every patient a set of classifying questions at the start of treatment to identify any potential risks
Adjusting treatment plans to include less manual therapy work and only with patient consent in an effort to reduce hand-to-body contact
Converted all “non-essential” team members to work-from-home status to reduce the number of people within our clinics
Instructed our team members to self-distance especially when outside of our clinics, including the elimination of all travel, and to ask their families to take the same precautions
Based on the progression of the situation, we have contingency plans in place to allow continuity of care in the safest way possible within official guidelines, including:
Implementing specific treatment hours for patients who are considered high-risk but require continued onsite care, allowing time before and after those hours to do a deep clean
Continuing to reduce hours on an as-needed basis to keep schedules limited
Potentially offering telehealth options (under development), however on a private-pay basis due to insurances not allowing telehealth to be billed under physical therapy at this time
We cannot stress this enough, but in order to continue providing care to those who need it, it is absolutely imperative for all of our employees and patients to practice strict social distancing, especially beyond our walls. If you are electing to continue your treatment, we implore you to be transparent with our team regarding your health status and cooperate strictly with all guidelines for your safety and the safety of all our patients and employees.
If you are at home during this time, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of our patient portal through Keet Health to stay on top of your home exercise program and help maintain your progress until you are able to return to onsite visits.
Thank you for continuing to support us and trust in us through these uncertain times. We know that together, United, we will get through this and celebrate on the other side.
Sincerely,
Your Rehab United Family
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