In-person elective appointments return at NPMC

On Friday, current projections indicated a lower than expected volume of COVID-19 cases in the region, and, as a result, National Park Physician Services announced it will resume in-person elective appointments, according to a news release.

The clinics have taken the lower than expected projections to mean less strain on health care resources and the opportunity to safely resume these in-person appointments, the release said.

“The practice will initially focus on scheduling patients in the short-term who have time-sensitive needs or chronic health conditions,” it said.

Mandy Golleher, National Park Medical Center marketing and communications director, said the clinics have “proper protective measures” in place to ensure the patients remain safe.

“Before we ever made the decision to start seeing patients for elective clinic appointments back in person, we made sure that we have all of those protective services in place to keep them safe,” Golleher said.

“At any given moment we want to do what’s best for our patients, our co-workers and for our communities,” she said. “So we’ll continue to evaluate the environment surrounding COVID-19 and we’ll be following the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and (Arkansas Department of Health) guidelines for what’s best in moving forward.”

National Park Physician Service clinics resuming in-person visits include Hot Springs Cardiology Associates, Hot Springs Cardiovascular Surgery

Clinic, Neurology Center of Hot Springs, NPMC Healthcenter at Hot Springs Village, Orthopaedic Center of Hot Springs, Physicians for Women, Pulmonology Associates of Hot Springs,

South Central GI, Surgery Specialists of Hot Springs and the Urology Center of Hot Springs.

“Last month, out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with federal and state guidance, some non-urgent outpatient visits were rescheduled, as clinically appropriate, to help minimize the spread of illness during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,” the release said.

Kelly Keys, executive market director of physician services, said in the release that the clinics’ goals are to return to providing the personalized care patients expect in a way that continues to support the facility’s ongoing COVID-19 response and maintains a clean and safe environment for the team and patients.

It was noted telehealth visits will continue to be offered for patients who would prefer a virtual visit with their provider, and patients who do enter any of the clinics will continue to be screened.

“The clinics will continue to screen everyone who enters the facility and ask them to bring a cloth mask or bandanna to wear during their visit,” the release said. “Visitors will be restricted to essential caregivers until further notice. Additionally, the facility has implemented new processes and procedures to further protect the health of patients, providers and employees.”

These “new processes and procedures” include:

• Pre-screening all patients for COVID-19 symptoms.

• Using block scheduling for sick and well patients.

• Minimizing patient overlap for appointments.

• Enabling patients to wait in their cars until their exam room is available, if medically appropriate.

• Removing all shared items from the waiting and exam areas, such as magazines, pens, and education materials.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, National Park Physician Services has been carefully following guidance from the Arkansas Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the release said. “Additionally, it has continually monitored the prevalence of the virus in the community and taken all precautionary measures to conserve supplies and safeguard patients, providers and staff against the spread of COVID-19.”