COVID-19

Your health is our top priority. We have been closely monitoring the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation and have taken multiple measures to keep you, our doctors and staff safe. As essential health care providers, our offices remain open for urgent appointments and scheduled intravitreal injections or other procedures for sight threatening conditions.  Limiting patient visits has significantly reduced the numbers of patients in the office at any one time.

We are doing everything possible to minimize any risk to patients who come into our offices. All patients receive a call 1-2 days prior to their appointment. On that call, we ask each patient a series of screening questions to ensure that no patients with symptoms of COVID-19 or any sign of illness will enter our offices.

To protect our patients, we are asking the following questions:

• Have you had a fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sorethroat, or new loss of taste or smell in the last 14 days?
• Have you or any one you have been in contact with traveled out of the state of Maryland in the last 14 days?
• Have you been exposed to someone diagnosed with COVID-19 or any illness within the last 14 days?
• Have you tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days?
• Have you been in a hospital setting, either as a visitor or as a patient in the last 14 days?
• Have you experienced symptoms of conjunctivitis (pink eye) in the last 14 days?

Precautions taken while in our office:

• Currently we allow only patients into the office.
• All drivers or family members are not allowed in the office. We instruct them to wait in their car or return when the patient has finished the appointment.  These steps severely limit the number of patients in the waiting room at any time, following proper social distancing per CDC recommendations.
• In the rare case when a patient needs an attendant, only one visitor is permitted to aid in mobility, translation, or other medical reason during that visit.
• All people entering the office are screened by an attendant before being allowed to enter the office. They must meet the above-mentioned travel restriction and illness criteria to enter.  Patients not meeting these criteria are turned away and rescheduled.  There is a zero tolerance policy when it comes to your safety.  Only people who are healthy are allowed entry.
• All our employees must wear face masks. Those caring for patients must also wear gloves.
• We now require all patients to come to their appointments wearing a face mask or some form of protection covering their nose and mouth. Unfortunately, we are unable to supply masks to you.
• All equipment and rooms are wiped down between patients to ensure sterility.
• Patient visit protocols have been stripped down to a minimum. Only imaging absolutely required for that visit is being performed.  We are postponing all other testing to a later date.  This step ensures minimal time in the office.
• Injections for both eyes are being offered in selected cases to minimize visits.

If you have any concerns or questions, please call our office at 410-686-3000. Thank you for your support and for entrusting us with your care.