As CHOC Children’s and other healthcare facilities adapt to the fluid environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and national, state and local recommendations and guidelines changing frequently, you may notice some changes the next time you visit the doctor’s office. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we adjust our practices to ensure a safe environment for our patients, families, staff and community.
Our phone lines are busy.
We anticipate our phone lines being busier than normal. Thank you, in advance, for your patience with our staff, who remain dedicated to providing the best customer service. If you have questions about your child’s health and COVID-19, call our 24/7 nurse line at 1-844-GET-CHOC.
You are going to be asked more questions.
Your history of potential COVID-19 exposure, travel history and recent symptoms are clues to your family’s risk. We are screening on the phone and prior to entry into our clinical areas.
You may be asked to see your doctor virtually.
Many appointments can be done through telehealth, which means you can interact with a provider from the comfort and safety of your home. Depending on your child’s health needs, you may be asked to see your doctor using a computer or mobile device. When you schedule a telehealth appointment, you will receive a link by email or text message, which will connect with a CHOC provider at your appointment time.
Appointment times might change.
Your appointment may be moved to a different location, date or time. Appointments that can be safely delayed may be rescheduled to accommodate surging demand. We will continue to do our best to accommodate our patients and appreciate your patience and flexibility.
You may see a different provider.
We will relocate some providers to different locations to ensure adequate staffing and to protect providers who may be at risk. If your child’s provider is not available, you will be given the option of seeing a different provider or rescheduling for a future date if possible. We thank you for being flexible with our providers.
We will ask you to limit the number of people with your child.
For the safety of our patients, families, physicians and staff, we are limiting the number of people who can accompany a patient. Please check choc.org/visiting for the latest visitor guidelines by location.
No one will come to work sick.
This has always been our policy, but we will be extra cautious in the current climate. Please be aware that there may be occasions when we will need to make last-minute cancellations or location/provider changes due to staffing issues.
Our cleaning procedures are rigorous.
We will continue to thoroughly sanitize our offices to the most rigorous standards. Clinical areas will be cleaned multiple times per day, in addition to the medical grade sanitization we have always provided.
This is a rapidly evolving situation and our efforts to provide you with the safest and most effective care will not stop. Please stay tuned to choc.org/visiting for the latest information about visiting our locations.
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