To Our CFP Family,
Our office and supplement store are open and fully staffed. If you prefer mail order, these supplements can be accessed online thru our website: centralfamily.com (click here to access our online store directly). If you have online orders that you need sent out before Monday, please order them by Friday morning.
We have spent the last three weeks, now, managing the new reality of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in our community. We have continued to fine tune our plan as new information comes out.
For in-house supplement orders: Friday, April 3rd, we will be open through lunch and will close at 1 pm. If you need supplements, you can come by to get them before 1 pm. Remember to call before you come so that we can get your order ready for you. Notify us when you arrive, and we will put your order outside of our office door for you to come in and get.
An Urgent message about Visits/Scheduling/Finances:
We practitioners want to make sure that we are taking care of all of our current patients. We know it can seem harsh that we ask everyone to keep their scheduled visits for refills and follow ups when things are so difficult and uncertain. There are multiple reasons for this that need to be considered:
The same rationale that required the visit in the first place still applies, in spite of this virus and the shelter in place orders. We don’t want to practice bad medicine. We hold ourselves to a standard that keeps patients safe.
There is also the bottom line for us that is never easy to talk about, which is finances. Being in the office to answer your calls, schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, see you on a remote visit is done by a person who needs to be paid. If you want us to be here to serve you, we need to be able to pay ourselves, staff, rent and bills. Many of the things we do to stay operational do not involve direct payment, and now we also have the additional time and cost of using telemedicine. If we refill your prescriptions without your usual visit, then we are both not practicing good medicine, as well as not being paid for our work.
Please keep in mind that we are putting ourselves and families at some risk by continuing to come to work every day, being together in the office, taking care of people who are sick. We are being very careful, but healthcare right now is a high stakes risky business. I know it is popular right now to say the Nurses and NP’s, PA’s and MD’s are being selfless and brave, but we are people too, with family, friends, fears and bills, just like you. so please have compassion with yourself and us as we all maneuver our way through this difficult time. We are professionally dedicated and committed to our work and the people we serve. We are not saints or selfless martyrs!
We do understand that this is a terrible time for everyone. If you absolutely cannot keep your appointment you can leave a message with our Business Manager, Linda at her extension and she will make sure your practitioner knows. We can possibly help you find other resources in the community to fulfill your needs.
Our absolutely fabulous front office staff and our bonafide “shero” Triage Nurse, Susan, are not able to make any determinations about visits and the need for them. If you need refills and an appointment is scheduled or needed to do that, please keep or make that appointment. Please be kind to the people answering the phones and do not take your frustration out on them. Your practitioner is also busy doing their work, so unless you are at the end of the road financially, or some other extreme difficulty, please just keep your appointment. This is a way you can help us, and we do need the help, this is exhausting work right now!
We have successfully been doing our visits with telemedicine. It is good to see all of your faces! We have worked most of the kinks out of it, and everyone has been very patient when there are problems. Thank you! It works best to use your computer if possible to open the link, by the way. (The microphone and audio seems to work better on computers). We do have a new telemedicine oral agreement that we have to read to you and have you verbally sign for legal purposes. The telemedicine that we use is encrypted to satisfy Hipaa guidelines, so we can be as safe and secure as it’s possible to be.
Labs:
IF you need labs before your visit call the office and we will schedule a time for you to come in. We will walk you through the process to do this safely.
With warm regards to you and your families, together we can do this,
Connie Ryan, Eva Montes, Elliot Trester, Theresa Pugh, Peggy Ghorbani, and Julie Lack
P.S. Remember. . .wash your hands, cover your cough. stay 6 feet away and perfect your air hug and of course.... laugh