Dausen J. Harker, MD, Summit Medical Group Oregon Family Medicine

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, our individual health, the health of our loved ones, and that of our immediate community took center stage. We collectively took actions to mitigate the spread of the virus, learned the importance of social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, and how to do a lot of things virtually to stay “connected” in this largely disconnected time.

With our health unquestionably front and center these days, why not consider taking an inventory of your overall health and the things you can do to proactively and actively improve your situation.

Restarting your medical care that may have been postponed during this crisis is an excellent place to begin. Any preventative care, procedures, chronic disease care, and surgeries should be scheduled. Put simply, caring for your health is essential, every bit as essential as a trip to pick up groceries or a family walk to get your steps in. The dangers related to undetected conditions and unmanaged chronic disease puts people at greater risk. As much as we enjoy the convenience of telemedicine visits, there are times when seeing a provider in-person may be medically necessary.

You may be hesitant to seek in-person care during the pandemic but know that we are prepared. For the safety and well-being of our patients and in-office teams, we are reinforcing best practices and careful considerations at all our facilities, including:

  • Strict social and physical distancing measures, such as minimizing time in waiting areas, and maintaining low patient volumes;
  • Patients are allowed to have one visitor if it’s medically necessary such as interpreters, parent of a minor, or a caregiver providing ambulation assistance;
  • Universal screening of all patients and visitors with non-contact infrared thermometers;
  • Rigorous cleaning and disinfecting, concentrating on frequently touched surfaces, exam rooms and terminals;
  • Requiring all patients and visitors to wear a mask or face covering whenever inside our clinics. All care providers and staff are also required to wear a mask within patient areas.
  • We are expanding our specialties to other clinic locations to offer patients more convenience.

With these assurances, we hope you don’t delay making an appointment for essential care. We also expect to soon begin offering antibody testing to determine whether a person has been exposed to COVID-19.

Please check our website for our COVID-19 resource page for the most up-to-date information about SMGOR’s response and services.

We look forward to seeing you in-person soon!

Dr. Harker

image_printPrint