Covid - 19 Announcements - New Update Beginning June 29, 2020

Due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Jim Wells County, below are added safety measures being enacted. While our policies are already strict for your protection, these new added safety measures will help reduce the risk of COVID-19 even further. Our goal is to protect you and our staff as much as possible. 1. Only the patient will be allowed into the office, unless the patient is a minor or unless a patient needs the support of the caregiver. We must limit the number of patients in the office at one time. Face-covering is required. Your temperature will be screened. you will be assigned a seat. 2. Please be on time, not too early or not too late. Patients who are early will be asked to return at their scheduled time. Patients late by over 10 minutes will be asked to wait in their air-conditioned cars until they are called (or some may be rescheduled if we cannot accommodate). 3. No dropoffs allowed. We require the patient to leave upon completion of their encounter. If you require transportation services, we ask that you reschedule until the increase in COVID-19 subsides. 4. Patients over 75 years are asked to reschedule. This is the most vulnerable age group and we will gladly schedule 1 to 2 months out to allow COVID-19 to subside. Patients with weakened immune symptoms or advanced medical conditions should also postpone their appointments. 5. We are only allowing 1 family member per day. This allows for a shorter office visit and thus a lower exposure risk. 6. We encourage patients to reschedule follow-ups. They should be delayed a month or two . This includes: glaucoma follow-ups, amblyopia follow-ups, dry eye follow-ups, etc. All red eye and other such complex cases will be deferred to ophthalmology or their primary care doctor. 7. Patients are encouraged to visit www.alicefamilyeyecenter.com and printout their paperwork from home. Please fill out prior to your visit. This prevents you from having to touch clipboards, pens, etc. On our website, press the "New Patient Center" tab and download our forms. 8. Patients are encouraged to bring their own sanitizer and use often. We clean all surfaces after each patients, but extra layers of protection are encouraged. 9. Our restrooms remain closed, but will open upon request. If you do use our restroom, please follow instructions to help keep it COVID-free for you and the next person that enters.

Thank you for your patience during this difficult time. We are following new guidance released by the State of Texas and "Governor's report to Open Texas". https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/organization/opentexas/OpenTexas-Report.pdf