Ilene M. Spector, DO, FCA
Specializing in Osteopathic Manual Medicine
COVID-19 OFFICE INFORMATION
Our office closed on March 13, 2020 for COVID-19 safety and reopened June 18, 2020 with COVID-19 precautionary policies
For updated Gunnison County info visit: https://covid19.gunnisoncounty.org
This information is current as of January 10, 2021. Please be aware this information will not be updated regularly. Policies may change as the COVID-19 situation and government regulations change. It is best to call or text us at (970) 349-2095 or email us at drilenemspector@gmail.com for current office information.
Our goal has always been to provide a safe outpatient medical environment with the lowest possible risk for infectious diseases. We have made important changes in our office infectious disease protocol to drastically reduce small & large droplet diffusion and to eradicate virus particles from the air and surfaces. Our goal is to protect you and us during this pandemic.
*** If you have any of these COVID-19 symptoms listed below or have been exposed to someone who has them, presently or during the past month or so, please contact the office first before scheduling. We are doing everything we can to ensure we do not have any persons in the office who might be ill or contagious. ***
Fever >100.4 or chills, cough (acute or worsening chronic), shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, new onset fatigue, muscle or body aches, new acute headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea
*** Our office infectious disease protocol now includes screening patients for ANY respiratory illnesses that may be contagious, not only COVID-19. This includes other respiratory viral or bacterial infections, etc. We wish to avoid risks to all persons in this office of exposure to any contagious infections, in the interest of keeping our environment healthy and reducing stress on immune systems. So even if you are COVID-19 negative, please understand our need to keep our office safe as we request you stay home if you are contagious.***
Below is general information about new office policies. We comply with, and in some cases are more cautious than, Colorado State and Gunnison County Public Health Orders, always with your safety in mind.
1. All patients are screened for symptoms for every appointment at 3 different times, to ensure you are not actively ill or at risk for COVID-19 or other contagious diseases. If you answer "yes" to any of the questions, you will need to be cleared by staff or Dr. Spector first before you can proceed to your appointment, otherwise we may need to ask you to reschedule. There will not be a charge if you need to reschedule due to a determined risk. This is to ensure as much as possible that we do not have any persons in the office who might be ill or contagious. Only if you clear the screening will you be able to enter the clinic.
a. When making an appointment, staff will inform you of our screening questionnaire.
b. About 24 hours before your appointment, staff will ask you to complete our screening questionnaire and report your temperature, on the phone or by text or email. If any of your answers are "yes", you must send us a copy of your completed questionnaire before your visit, which staff and/or Dr. Spector will review to determine if we can see you or you need to cancel and reschedule.
c. Before your appointment: As long as you've been cleared for your appointment and there are no changes in your screening responses, you are fine to come. If there are any changes in your screening responses before your actual appointment, you must notify us so we can determine if your appointment needs to be cancelled. At the beginning of your appointment, staff or Dr. Spector will verify your completed questionnaire and temperature will be taken.
2. Only patients themselves and persons necessary for their care or safety may come into our office, e.g., parent with child, caretaker, person necessary for history-taking or with need to communicate with Dr. Spector about the patient's care. No other unnecessary persons (siblings, friends, other family members etc.) may come into the office and should either stay home or wait outside within a vehicle. No persons shall wander around the premises outside the building. All persons necessary will remain in the treatment room with the patient and no person shall wait in the waiting area during an office visit.
3. Our schedule will be staggered with extra time in between patients. We have changed the patient flow during the pandemic. Each patient will be scheduled with a break in between so we have time to disinfect the office. The waiting room will be empty when you enter, except for Dr. Spector and staff.
a. Dr. Spector and staff will disinfect the waiting area, bathroom, treatment room and other surfaces after each patient.
b. There will be no social contact between patients. Only one patient at a time will be in the building and no patient with or without accompanying people will be waiting long in the waiting area.
4. All patients, accompanying people and staff are required to wear masks the entire time they are in the office. A cloth or fabric face covering/mask is fine for patients and accompanying people. We expect you to arrive wearing a face covering/mask, to leave it on the entire time you are in the building and only remove it after you have left. If you do not have one, we can provide cloth masks for you and your children over the age of 2 to borrow. Children age 2 and under are not required to wear face coverings/masks.
a. Dr. Spector and staff will be wearing appropriate face masks at all times.
5. All people are required to maintain a social distance of 6 feet or more when possible. Exceptions are same family members between each other, and the proximity between Dr. Spector and the patient when necessary during the visit.
6. Disinfecting and hand washing:
a. After entering the building, please stay in the waiting area and wait for Dr. Spector or staff to take your temperature and verify your screening. All patients and accompanying people will wash their hands for at least 20 seconds in the restroom. This must be repeated as needed during their visit and also after their visit before leaving the building.
b. Hand sanitizer: We ask you to disinfect your hands in your vehicle before entering the building. Hand sanitizer will be available in waiting area, bathroom and treatment room and should be used frequently by patients and accompanying people as needed.
c. We provide a contact-less credit card machine where you can tap your card without contact if your card has the ability (Contactless Indicator on back of card), or you may use a chip reader or swipe your card yourself.
d. Dr. Spector and staff maintain strict and constant disinfection of their hands, including hand washing before and after all patients and more frequently when necessary, with frequent use of hand sanitizer. Gloves will be worn when necessary.
e. Dr. Spector and staff complete a screening questionnaire on themselves on a daily basis prior to seeing patients. If we get sick we will take the necessary precautions and cancel work if necessary. As additional screening, we record our temperatures daily along with blood oxygen levels using a pulse oximeter. These are available to patients as needed.
f. Disinfection of office surfaces will be performed after each patient, using the most natural and non-toxic products identified on the official EPA "N-list of products with emerging viral pathogens AND Human Coronavirus claims for use against SARS-SoV-2." Surfaces disinfected include office hard surfaces such as the treatment table, door handles, armrests of chairs, edges of doors, handles, credit card machine, iPad, phones etc. which will be wiped down or sprayed with a disinfectant mentioned above between patients and as necessary.
g. There will be no magazines, toys or other optional objects in the office according to recommended safety guidelines. If your child needs a favorite toy or object, please bring one or two with you that have been disinfected.
7. Optimal air quality measures: Dr. Spector will maintain good air quality by having windows open when possible to provide fresh air and high quality ventilation. We also provide office air purification with the use of air filters and other air cleaning devices, to limit the airborne spread of any virus. We know that when air can move freely, infection risk is significantly lower. Good air quality is an important anti-viral strategy.
a. Both our waiting room and treatment room have industrial-grade, state-of-the-art high-efficiency HEPA filters that capture 99.97% of the droplet and particulate matter in the circulating air. This especially filters large and small-droplets that carry viruses exhaled from breathing, coughing, and sneezing with short and long-range transmission. They also remove the dust that can piggyback with any airborne virus.
