Hello everyone, I hope coronavirus has brought you as many gifts as it has taken away in your life. With great crisis comes great opportunity and it is only when we give up the struggle and go with the flow, that we can embrace change as a positive occurrence, in my humble opinion, and not without great resistance, at least on my part, initially. Some of us, myself included, have to learn the hard way.
That said, we've changed not only HOW we do things but WHAT we do. While we were closed for non-elective medical procedures, we made a rapid jump to switching to telemedicine and COVID-19 testing. Our greatest achievement during this transition period has been identifying locals who have antibodies against COVID-19 and have the ability to donate convalescent plasma, to help those who are fighting for their lives with COVID-19.
I would like to thank Rick who first asked the question, if he could be a potential plasma donor, that sent us down this path and Marilyn B., who came out of retirement as a former Johns Hopkins nurse, to answer the call from Governor Carney to volunteer her skills. With their help we began our COVID-19 testing here at Renove Medical Spa. Thank you Rick and Marilyn!
A business can only function as well as it's staff, and Renove has the best employees who have jumped in to help and fight coronavirus, taking on our small corner of the world, as best we can. I am very proud of their dedication to our mission, our patients, and each other, to provide safe and reliable testing while being safe themselves. Thank you Amber and Lori!
Since we have been providing this testing, we have learned a few things, medically and logistically. Medically, our coronavirus positive patients have had mild to moderate symptoms and some have had no symptoms at all. We've had 5 married couples with only one spouse testing positive and the other testing negative. What I can conclude from this is that 1. there may be many more people in our area who have had COVID-19 and don't know it, 2. symptoms of COVID-19 for the majority of people are not life threatening, and 3. it may not be as super contagious as we thought. But further time, testing and data collection by Public Health will tell.
Logistically, we have learned how to limit exposure to and from our patients with donning personal protective equipment (PPE) and how to best keep our office environment as clean and risk free as possible. We have been bringing patients back one at time, with a curbside patient valet service, taking prepayments by phone when applicable, and drop shipping skin care products. Many of our methods will change again, as we transition out of testing and back to our "normal" operations, with a few, or many, modifications. But with your help, we will get there, and make this happen.
As a medical practice, we are allowed to re-open as an essential business and have been encouraged to see elective medical cases, though an argument can be made that what we do is in fact ESSENTIAL! Our date to re-open to all appointments is May 18th. You may call or email us to set up an appointment 302-227-1079 and info@renovemedspa.org. and we will be happy to schedule you. We look forward to seeing everyone again!
Please expect some changes when you come in to see us, such as:
- please wear a mask when you come in for your appointment;
- staff will also be wearing masks;
- give us a call from your car letting us know that you have arrived;
- wait in your car prior to your appointment and we will call you back when we are ready for you;
- We will take your temperature with a touchless forehead thermometer;
- staff will have their temperatures taken daily as well;
- do not have any companions with you, or they may wait outside;
- do not come if you are ill or have been ill within the past 14 days. Just let us know and we will be happy to change your appointment date and time;
- do not come if you have been in contact with a sick person within the past 14 days.
We look forward to welcoming you all back. I hope we can all find some reassurance and comfort as our state opens up again, in stages, and that we can all get on with our lives in the best way possible.
See you soon!
Michelle Parsons, MD
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