Dear patients,

As you are all undoubtedly aware, COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has declared a global pandemic, meaning that the disease is now spreading across all continents globally. As part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many businesses across New York State and the country are shutting down. However, patients should be aware that our office will remain open at normal business hours (8 am to 5 pm) to handle urgent visits, as well as handle appointments for patients that are currently on drug therapy or are being followed for certain eye diseases. These include patients who have glaucoma, ocular hypertension, rheumatological eye diseases, corneal melts, or patients who have recently had eye / laser surgery who require followup. Patients who are scheduled for routine appointments, however, will be rescheduled by our office staff accordingly. If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact our office at 518-782-7777 option 2.

As it is critically important that we not only monitor the health of our patients but also prevent the spread of COVID-19, patients who come to our office during this time period may notice some changes to their appointment. All patients will have to answer a brief COVID-19 risk assessment questionnaire in addition to having a minimally invasive temperature check to ensure that they do not have any fever. You may also be asked to wear a mask should your physician determine that you need one. You will find that we have increased the number of hand sanitizer stations around the office as well as increased the number of times staff routinely come around and wipe down office spaces with bleach or Clorox wipes. We apologize in advance for any intrusion, but we feel that it is necessary to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Finally, if you become ill before your appointment, please call the receptionists at 518-782-7777 option 2 and inform them that you are ill. Patients who may still need to be seen may be contacted for a tele-health visit, which can be conducted on a patient’s smartphone or a computer equipped with a high resolution webcamera.

If you have any additional questions about COVID-19, please visit the CDC webpage for Coronavirus here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Be safe, be healthy, and we will all get through this together.

Regards,

Brian, Practice Administrator