As you might imagine, as specialists in lung diseases including infections, we at LPA have been a little busy lately. We are getting a lot of phone calls at the office and our staff who answer them are pretty overloaded, so please bear with us as we all work through this together. Understand that not everyone has all the answers right now and that some of the answers will change from day to day as new information emerges. Because the phone message system is overwhelmed, it may take longer than usual to return your calls.
To answer some commonly asked questions:
- Yes, we are still open. If you have an appointment with us, we will plan to see you. We are implementing some screening procedures in the office and you will be asked about recent illness or fever.
- Our office is not equipped to see patients who may be sick with the new COVID-19 virus (fever, cough, other symptoms of chest infection). We don’t have the right isolation capabilities in the office building. We can direct you to appropriate resources in the community for testing.
- If you already have a procedure scheduled with one of our doctors, we are still planning to do it unless you have specifically been contacted to reschedule it. If you get sick, you should call us to reschedule it.
- It is OK for you to go to work if you are not sick. If you have chronic lung disease or are at risk for infection for other reasons you should use appropriate precautions. If your employer offers the opportunity to work remotely you might wish to explore that with them. We are not able to write notes excusing you from work if you are not ill. There is some good advice for you at:
Click HERE for Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines
Thank you all for working with us to keep our community as healthy as it can be!
The staff at Lynchburg Pulmonary