COVID-19 Guidance: Primary Care Providers in a Community Setting

Advisory Alert

June 30, 2020

*Cette information est seulement disponible en anglais.

To: Area clinicians

FOR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: COVID-19 Acknowledgement and Reminders

This is a brief update to connect with you and thank you for your challenging work over the last four months to adapt your practices and ensure a COVID-safe environment for patients and staff.

I am aware that you have been receiving much COVID-19 advice and direction from the regulatory colleges, associations, government ministries and other sources and so I won’t repeat all of that. However, I do want to make sure you are getting the support you need from Public Health Sudbury & Districts. I welcome any and all feedback. Useful resources can be found at our website at phsd.ca and on Twitter at @PublicHealthSD and @SantePubliqueSD.

As a reminder, the Ministry’s latest guidance for Primary Care Providers can be found in English (PDF) and French (PDF). Highlights of critical information include:

• Virtual care should be the “default” wherever possible
• Where in-person visits are essential:
  • Ensure 2 metres in the waiting room and examination rooms (e.g. blocking chairs, plexiglass barriers at reception, control traffic flow, minimize number of people in the office/clinic at one time, etc.)
  • Screen patients using active screening (phone or when present) and passive screening (signage)
  • Ensure masking of patients (cloth or procedure/surgical if screen positive) and clinic staff (medical masks for entire shift), in addition to eye protection for health care workers
  • Clean and disinfect after every patient visit as soon as possible
  • Wash your hands often!

The guidance also includes information on testing and reporting of COVID-19 in addition to links to helpful resources.

I invite you to contact me if you are encountering any specific challenges or have questions or suggestions about how Public Health can support you better. We may not have all the answers, but we can help connect you to the people who do.

Thank you again—stay safe, look after yourselves and each other, and remain diligent and vigilant—we cannot let our guard down now.

Sincerely,

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe
Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer

Encl.

NOTE: We are streamlining our communication with area health care providers and henceforth will use email to communicate Advisory Alerts with you. If you have not already done so, please send your professional/office email address(es) to us at Health_Protection@phsd.ca immediately. These addresses will be used for the purposes of communicating urgent public health information. Note: all Advisory Alerts are found on our website.

This item was last modified on July 2, 2020