Hi all,

Hope you are all doing well and staying safe.

The office has been closely following the COVID-19 situation in the Capital Region and beyond. Projections after Thanksgiving suggest a large spike will occur. It is likely the Capital Region will be no exception to this. As such, we will be implementing phase II of our mitigation measures.

What were the PHASE I Mitigation measures?

Phase I mitigation measures included disinfecting rooms between patient visits, as well as the installation of touch free faucets, the installation of UV reaction cells to our building air handlers, MERV13 filtration systems, and pressure assist toilets to reduce aerosol concentrations from toilet flushes. We also increased HEPA filtration in areas of the office which had less than 6 air exchanges per hour, the recommended number of exchanges for medical offices. Additionally, we also implemented social distancing measures as well as requiring all patients to wear a mask (for our staff, we had required mask wearing a number of weeks before state mandates).

Phase Ia mitigation measures included peroxide washing of glasses in the optical shop, as well as the roll-out of a optical air curtain system that allows patients to safely try glasses on.

Phase Ib mitigation includes the installation of a FDA EUA approved temperature screening system for both staff and patients.

What are the PHASE II Mitigation measures going to be?

Phase II mitigation measures include the design, fabrication, and installation of Upper Air Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) units, which will be installed in each exam room. These units will exchange the entire air in an exam room within 1-2 minutes, allowing for the entire air in an exam room to be sanitized between patients. Larger units will increase the number of air exchanges in the waiting room and sub-waiting room. The goal is a minimum of 20 air exchanges per hour in every room of the office. This number is substantially more than what is required in a medical office, and is considered the minimum number of air exchanges required in a hospital operating room.

Phase II also sees the upgrading of the optical air curtain with a custom UVGI module, the design, fabrication, and installation of custom UV sanitization chambers for office and optical equipment, the installation of laser particle counters for monitoring aerosol particulates, and custom chair dividers on all chairs in the waiting room and sub waiting room.

Because the office feels very strongly about the safety of individuals, the designs of the UVGI system will be released open source through the non-profit AlbanyNYPPE, which is affiliated with our practice. These designs will be provided at no cost, allowing anyone who wants to build one the ability to fabricate their own.

Will there be a Phase III?

Although a vaccine rollout is very close, the office anticipates that vaccination will be bottle necked. We therefore anticipate that COVID cases will continue even in 2021. Therefore, a Phase III mitigation program is anticipated. Stay tuned.

That is all for now! In the meanwhile, I hope you all have a safe December, Holiday, and New Year.

–Brian

Practice Administrator