How may the services of your urgent care or walk-in clinic change after COVID-19?
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Continued social distancing
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OrthoIndy Urgent Care clinics have implemented a few changes to keep employees and patients safe. All patients will continue to go through a screening process upon entry. We will still plan on servicing the injured patient population with proper precautions. Frequently, we will see patients with non-urgent problems. These patients will still be seen, but we may need to delay additional testing or intervention, depending on the patient’s condition.
Our staff universally use personal protective equipment for direct patient interaction, and we request that patients also wear their own mask, as well as abide by restrictions related to social distancing from other patients and visitors. If an acute injury requires surgical intervention, there will be additional scrutiny in the preoperative medical evaluation. This could potentially include COVID-19 testing depending on the urgency, as well as medical risk factors identified.
Throughout the crisis, OrthoIndy Urgent Care continued to function as a resource for our community as it has been difficult for some injured patients to identify access to other systems. We will continue to provide urgent musculoskeletal care, and we have reopened all of our facilities and office locations as of May 11. Precautions must be maintained, but it is necessary to continue to provide the needed care which has been disrupted in our medical system.
Timothy E. Dicke, MD, is president and CEO of OrthoIndy in Indianapolis.
Busy summer months
Throughout the COVID-19 response and even after, Shriners Hospitals for Children anticipates our walk-in services for pediatric fractures will be needed more than ever. Patients and families are understandably nervous about sitting in emergency rooms now, and will appreciate the ability to walk right into a specialty clinic where only pediatric orthopedic patients are seen. This allows patients and families to feel safer while also unloading emergency room physicians so they can care for patients in critical need of their services. In addition, in this time of catastrophic economic difficulty, patients and families struggling with insurance uncertainty will likely be relieved to know that we treat everyone, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.
Our ability to provide complete fracture and injury care—from evaluation to imaging to surgery and rehabilitation, if needed—to all children through our walk-in clinic will likely be more essential than ever. Parents have expressed gratitude for the immediate care, but also the unique kid-focused care. Being in an environment focused solely on kids puts the child at ease and leads to a better experience in what may be a scary situation for a little one. We expected the summer months to be the busiest, but over the years, we have consistently seen a spike in spring and another spike in September as kids are going back to school and getting back into team sports.
Corinna C.D. Franklin, MD, is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and director of sports medicine at Shriners Hospital for Children – Philadelphia.
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