our COVID-19 response
updated 1/27/2023
Rapid, accurate testing available in house!
For situations where greater accuracy than home testing is needed, we operate our own PCR machine in house for highly accurate point of care testing without needing to wait days for results. Our test takes just 45 minutes to run and is the most accurate form of point of care COVID testing currently available. We also have the capability to test for Flu and RSV at the same time. Test/appointments that occur before 4:30 pm will be resulted same day, otherwise they may be resulted the following business day. For any COVID-related appointment needs, whether exposure, symptoms, or other testing needs, simply use our COVID Triage System:
Clinic safety measures
As you might imagine, your safety is paramount to us. We are taking this pandemic seriously and have put in place substantial measures to ensure continued care while protecting the safety of our patients, their families, and our staff. We will remain committed to caring for your children’s health needs during this trying time.
We are open for all appointments, including well checks for all ages, sick visit, and COVID testing/evaluations. We will continue to offer Telehealth visits for conditions where appropriate, and can also see appointments in person as well.
We have implemented a detailed sanitizing procedure between patients including all contact surfaces of our exam rooms, allowing only one family in the hallway/common areas at a time, and minimizing contact such as by checking in over the phone. To help us keep everyone safe, please give your attention to our policies for clinic visits—you will receive instruction on those procedures prior to any appointments.
This pandemic has also placed intense demands on our physicians and staff. Please be flexible and understanding if you experience any delays in response more than you are used to - we are working hard to get to everyone’s questions and requests as timely as possible.
Appointment availability
Well visits
All ages: please continue all regularly scheduled well checks and follow-up visits. It is important to monitor children’s growth and development, keep them up to date on immunizations, and monitor any health conditions.
Problem-Focused visits
Potential COVID-related visits (symptoms, exposure, and/or need for testing): We may advise a Telehealth visit with or without testing, depending on your situation. To see what you should schedule, use our COVID triage system.
Other issues: determine whether a Telehealth visit or clinic visit is most appropriate (see below). If examination is ideal then schedule normally with us as we will always be able to provide the best care in person. Otherwise, if you prefer Telehealth we can always start there and see if anything further is needed.
Telehealth visits
A Telehealth visit is done online with video and audio, including visual assessment plus taking a detailed history. For most conditions, in-person exam enables us to provide the best care. But Telehealth improves access and convenience, which makes it ideal for certain scenarios.
Visits that are good candidates
Especially well suited for emotional/school/behavioral type issues and followup issues where most of the visit is talking, exam was recently done, or diagnosis/treatment doesn’t hinge on the exam.
Other things that may benefit from physical exam are sometimes workable in a pinch as we may be able to gather enough information to make an initial plan of action followed by close monitoring and signs to watch for. Then we can always follow that with an in-person visit in a day or two if your child is not responding as expected.
Telehealth is not appropriate for well checks.
Billing questions about Telehealth visits
We will follow standard procedure for Telehealth visit billing. These visits are essentially treated the same as in-office visits. There are no additional charges for these visits compared with in person visits.
For most insurance plans, these should be covered the same as in clinic visits - same copay, deductible, etc.
If a visit is “converted” to an in-person visit same day (e.g. you come here for a brief exam), you will only be billed for one visit, not two. So that won’t change your copay or anything. But if it is followed by a separate, in-person visit on a separate day, these will be billed as separate visits just like clinic visits would be if on two different days.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Should I worry about coronavirus in children?
Worry can be productive in that it helps us take protective actions, but once appropriate actions have been taken then continuing to worry can be more detrimental than helpful. Such worry has led many children to be unnecessarily restricted from critical emotional support, social connections, physical fitness, learning opportunities, healthy nutrition, medical or dental care, and more. This has emptied our hospital beds of sick kids only to fill them right back up with mental health complications. So let’s hone in on what degree of action is truly needed to confidently put that worry aside, and be careful not to replace one risk with another.
Once all eligible children and family members are vaccinated, then the risk to your children is very low. Those too young to be vaccinated rarely contract or come to harm from the virus unless they live with an unvaccinated adult. This is because young children have fewer receptors for the virus, so they need much larger viral loads to make them ill. Unvaccinated parents are capable of transferring those larger viral loads, unlike most random exposures outside the home.
Right now, the risk to infants from other infections such as Flu and RSV is considerably greater than COVID. Accordingly, reasonable precautions for all infectious illness is never a bad idea, such as washing/sanitizing hands regularly when in contact with public items/surfaces, limiting contact with symptomatic individuals, etc. But after you’ve taken these steps, you really can breathe a sigh of relief and move forward with life. Any additional worry or social restrictions beyond the steps advised by our public health experts will generally cause more harm to your family than benefit.
The next best step is to optimize your children’s social and emotional development, prevent anxiety, and find ways for them to thrive in this new and different world which none of us were prepared for. Make sure your children are continuing to go to all routine medical, dental, vision and mental health appointments, have active engagement with school and social activities, get regular physical fitness and maintain healthy nutrition.
My child has a pre-existing medical condition (eg asthma, etc). Is there anything else I should do differently?
No, apart from being a bit more cautious than others about disease prevention, but that goes for any respiratory infection. Any treatment your child needed before COVID shouldn’t be any different now. E.g. if your child is having an asthma attack they should follow their normal asthma action plan and treat as they normally would. If they’re having severe symptoms they should seek medical attention as determined by their asthma action plan no differently from if there wasn’t coronavirus around.
What can we do to prevent contagiousness?
Coronavirus is believed to be spread both through droplets/secretions such as coughing/sneezing directly on someone, and through the air. So extended time spent with others less than 6 feet away and/or in any indoor setting would be the most risky. It can probably also spread through contaminated surfaces/objects with secretions on them because many people touch their own face more frequently than you realize, inoculating yourself with the virus.
Following these precautions doesn’t just reduce your risk of catching it, it also makes it more likely you’ll have a milder course if you do catch it. The lower the viral load you start with when you catch it, the more time your immune system has to respond before your viral load gets so high that it hurts you. So it never gets as high which means you don’t get as sick, or maybe even have no symptoms at all. Not a bad deal.
Here are some things you can do to slow the spread of respiratory illnesses in your community:
Limit contact with others who are ill.
Wear a mask if you do need to be around around others who are ill, or you yourself are ill, especially when indoors and/or less than 6 feet away.
Wash hands or use sanitizer before and after touching any shared/public objects and especially before/after touching face.
During large outbreaks of respiratory illness, limit (or wear a mask in) large indoor communal venues such as churches, restaurants, bars, gyms, and unnecessary public travel.
Teach your children about following basic precautions, and practice it with them at home.
How much does testing cost?
Our basic COVID test (without Flu or RSV) is billed at $125 to your insurance which is typically covered in full. If you don’t have insurance coverage we can offer a 30% prompt pay “cash” discount = $87.50. We also offer combination tests for COVID, flu and RSV (these are more expensive), and occasionally will do a rapid antigen test which is faster and more affordable, though these are inherently less accurate than PCR.
For more questions about Coronavirus COVID-19 and this current outbreak, please view this information page maintained by the OHA, and this page maintained by the CDC.
We will keep our patients informed by updating this page if any major changes to this basic policy. We hope you are all finding ways to stay connected with your community, stay on top of your mental health, stay fit, and stay safe.
Same-day appointments
For urgent needs, same-day appointments are available Monday through Friday. Please call as early in the day as possible, the more notice we have the easier it is to fit everyone in.
Need help outside of office hours?
Firstly, if your child has an emergency, please call 911 or go directly to the ER - they will contact us if needed once your child has been evaluated.
Urgent Care centers can also be helpful when something needs to be seen outside of office hours but it's not an emergency.
For our list of preferred Urgent Cares and ERs, see our resources page.
And if you have something that might need urgent attention but you're not sure/don't know what to do, we can help: