COVID-19 Bulletin

Dear Rogue Women’s Health Community,
I am writing to update you all on the current state of our office and address what we’re doing to help our community during this time of COVID-19 pandemic.

As I am writing this, March 25, 2020, we have a 3rd confirmed case in Jackson County that does appear to be community acquired, the first in Jackson County.  While this is the first confirmed case, and we have had a few hundred who have tested negative, there are still a few hundred with pending results.

During this time, we are working hard to maintain our commitment to each patient to provide the best care possible.  We are making some modifications to our office practice, the timing of appointments and the planned follow up.

Controlling the frequency of follow up, using telemedicine for visits and communicating through email are some of the tools we plan on using to limit traffic through the office, improve social distancing and protect our most vulnerable patients.

For anyone who is coming to the office for a visit: please be respectful of our community, if you have have any signs or symptoms of an infection, including but not limited to cough, congestion, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, runny nose or shortness of breath, body aches, fatigue, or diarrhea, please stay home.  During this time we are creating flexibility in our schedule and can accommodate most requests to reschedule.  Staying home helps protect others from acquiring an infection from others.  Additionally, please keep any household contacts home or supervised outside of the office to decrease contact with other patients.  If you are bringing children to your visits please let us know ahead of time so we can expedite you into a room.  We encourage you to limit who comes with you to your appointment to one partner or support person.

For anyone experiencing symptom related to COVID-19 infection such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath, please visit the Jackson County Health & Human Services COVID page for information on where to get tested.

If you are tested for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, you are designated a Person Under Investigation (PUI), whether you are admitted to the hospital or not, until you have received the results of your test.  PLEASE self quarantine and reschedule any appointments in any provider office.  Once you have a negative test result, we are happy to reschedule you.

1. From now until 5/1/20 we are postponing all routine annual exams.  If a patient needs pap testing we will keep that appointment.  If the annual exam is scheduled to refill medications, we plan on refilling 1-2 months of medication and have anyone follow up to be seen at that point to maintain continuity of care throughout the pandemic.
2. We will be using phone calls and telemedicine for our routine medication check exams.  These appointments are typically 1-15 minutes and are used to discuss how medication is working, any side effects, dose changes, and follow up needed.  These phone visits will be used to bridge to the next office exam.
3. Consultations will still be seen on an urgent basis from the ED and through other provider offices.  At this time all surgery that are considered non-emergent, and those patients who are deemed to not to be harmed by delaying their surgery.  Governor Kate Brown has cancelled all elective surgery until June 15.
4. Post-operative visits will be maintained at our current recommended follow up intervals, but will be rescheduled for any signs of infection that is not surgically related.
5. We will be able to provide management of abnormal bleeding and contraception with hormonal and non-hormonal IUD as well as Nexaplanon contraceptive rod.
6. As soon as we have a better understanding of how this global pandemic, COVID-19, is impacting Southern Oregon, we will make adjustments to our office visits and policies.

For our obstetric patients:

1. We will be adopting a new obstetric visit schedule to decrease required visits for low risk pregnancies and try to bundle visits to minimize trips to various offices and being out in the community.
2. We will continue to have early obstetric visits at 8-10 weeks and make adjustments for earlier visits based on spotting or bleeding early in pregnancy, pregnancy at risk for ectopic presentation, and history of miscarriage.
3. Lab visits will be bundled to limit time in the outpatient lab.
4. Ultrasounds will be done at Maternal fetal medicine and will follow current guidelines for both high and low risk pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
5. Currently Labor and delivery unit is keeping with the Asante policy of 1 visitor for the entire hospital stay and no visitors under the age of 18.  We understand this may create some hardship and change the birth experience for our patients and families.  At this time, limiting patients, family and visitors to the hospital is in the best interest of the community at large.
6. Postpartum visits may be delayed for patient convenience, but should not be delayed if you are experiencing any issues post delivery related to healing, depression, breast feeding, or contraception needs.

During this time we are here to provide support to our patients and our community.  We are trying to limit disruptions in care, the modifications we are making are to ensure patient and community health, preserve PPE and to support our local and regional services as we hope to flatten the curve and keep our healthcare system from being overwhelmed.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mills and the RWH Staff