Many medical industries have been ordered to cancel non-essential procedures by their governing bodies until the threat of coronavirus (COVID-19) subsides.
Several of these institutions serve the Crawfordsville area. The dental, chiropractic, physical therapy and addiction recovery industries, in particular, are seeing canceled procedures and events for the foreseeable future.
“We are simply explaining (to patients) that the American Dental Association has recommended that all dental offices in the U.S. close except for emergency care,” said Dentist Scot B. White, who practices on East Main Street.
However, he addded that his practice will continue seeing patients with pain and/or infection.
All magazines had been removed from the waiting room at White’s practice. Staff also requested patients wait in their cars until called inside on their cell phones.
“This way they never congregated in the reception area and they touched fewer surfaces,” White said. “I had all back office employees wearing N95 masks and had my front-office people wearing gloves to accept credit cards and all forms of payment.”
Following guidelines passed down from the Indiana division of the American Dental Association, other local dentists have implemented the cancellation of elective dental procedures.
Altschul Orthopedics, located on Lafayette Avenue, has also canceled all elective procedures and will only see patients on an emergency basis, effective immediately, until April 5.
“We were closely monitoring the recommendations of the ADA and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” Indiana Dental Association President Dr. Steve Ellinwood said.
His comments echoed those of the national dental association president, Dr. Chad Gehani.
“Concentrating on emergency dental care will allow us to care for our emergency patients and alleviate the burden that dental emergencies would place on hospital emergency departments,” he said.
Meanwhile, other elective industries have issued similar announcements.
The American Chiropractic Association suggested doctors “remain up to date with public health guidance.”
Bottorff Advanced Chiropractic on East Main Street announced it will be following these guidelines on its Facebook page, adding “while we always ensure a sterile and clean environment, we are especially vigilant in individually sanitizing each exam room after each patient with Sani-Cloth germicidal wipes during this season of illness.”
The Indiana Addiction Issues Coalition, which regularly sees large numbers of support-group participants gather throughout the state, is offering online recovery support groups in lieu of physical meetings.
They are available five times a day, as well as a family-and-loved-one recovery support meeting once a day.
Valley Oaks Professionals, an addiction recovery service in Crawfordsville, has also applied the notion of social distancing by offering a hotline to “inform our community on the latest developments surrounding the coronavirus.” The hotline number is 812-238-4871 and can be accessed seven days a week between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
“Valley Professionals is also implementing expanded care clinic space to support necessary care resources,” the agency stated on its Facebook page. “Please call before coming to your clinic.”
Additionally, the physical therapy sector of Crawfordsville’s non-emergent medical practices has issued similar statements.
“APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) has suspended in-person meetings and APTA business travel by our staff or members through April 15.”
