COVID-19 Archives - Hematology Oncology Associates of Fredericksburg

October 13, 2022

HOAF Face Mask Policy Update Effective November 1

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) have recently lifted requirements for mandatory face coverings in most healthcare settings in areas where community levels of infections are not considered high.

Effective Tuesday, November 1st, we will no longer be requiring face masks for patients, visitors, staff or providers. The use of masks will be optional.

However, we strongly recommend that anyone who is immunocompromised, or has a high risk for infection, continue to wear a mask in our office, and in public.

If you choose to continue wearing a mask, and more importantly, if you want our staff and providers to be masked when seeing you in our office, we will gladly do so to ensure you always feel protected and safe.

We have set up a process to alert staff and ensure this happens. Simply ask the Front Desk when checking in to ensure your care team remains masked for your appointment(s).

RECENT EXPOSURES TO COVID or HAVING SYMPTOMS of ILLNESS?

If you have recently been exposed or have symptoms of COVID or any other illness, please contact the office prior to your appointment for further instructions.

Should you be cleared to come in, please wear a mask, even if you have tested negative for COVID. You should continue to wear a mask until you no longer have any symptoms of illness.

HOAF follows CDC and VDH guidelines closely, and we remain proactive in adjusting our policies to ensure we are protecting our patients and the community. Therefore, this policy may change in the future.

February 16, 2022

COVID Update

In our continuing efforts to combat the COVID 19 virus, HOAF offers the following services:

Vaccines, boosters and third doses through our on-site vaccine clinic
Administration of the Evusheld prophylactic therapy for severely immunocompromised patients
Refer symptomatic HOAF patients, who test positive with the virus, for treatment with available monoclonal antibodies or antivirals

Our visitor policy allows for:

EXAM: one visitor ONLY is allowed with patients regardless of visit type.
INFUSION: one masked visitor may accompany patients.

We ask that all visitors be symptom-free, with no recent exposures to COVID 19.

To return to the office, patients who have tested positive, are required to present a negative test after two weeks of confirmed COVID 19 diagnosis or no test required if more than 30 days has passed.

For those patients with COVID-like symptoms, a test is required before entering the building. Testing can be done in our outdoor COVID testing area. Please call our office to schedule. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE BUILDING IF YOU ARE HAVING SYMPTOMS! These include:

Congestion
Scratchy or sore throat
Fever
Cough
Headache
Body aches
Loss of sense of taste and/or smell

All patients, visitors and vendors must properly wear a mask to be admitted to the office.

June 8, 2021

June 2021 Visitor Policy Update

EFFECTIVE Monday June 14th, ONE VISITOR will be allowed in the INFUSION CENTER per patient. This visitor IS required to be fully COVID-19 vaccinated (at least 14 days post 2nd vaccine). Please be prepared to have your vaccination card available to show the screener at the front door.

We look forward to seeing families and friends back in the infusion center with our patients!

March 31, 2021

March 31 COVID-19 Vaccine & Visitor Policy Update

We are now offering the COVID-19 vaccine to all of our patients, family, and caregivers upon request. To schedule your vaccine appointment email covid19tf@hoafredericksburg.com or call 540-371-0079 extension 181.

We are allowing one visitor per patient for all office visits, no visitors are allowed in our infusion center. Thank you for your patience and support as we work together to keep our patients and community safe.

March 16, 2021

COVID-19 Patient Vaccines Launch March 17

We are excited to announce that we now have the COVID-19 vaccine to administer to our patients. If you are a current HOAF patient, email covid19tf@hoafredericksburg.com or call 540-371-0079 extension 181 to schedule your vaccine appointment.

January 14, 2021

Covid-19 Vaccine Update

HOAF currently does not have the Covid-19 vaccine available for administration. We continue to work with the Virginia Department of Health and will schedule patients once we have obtained it. Please know that we will keep you updated and will communicate through email and our website as soon as we are able to provide the vaccine.

Patients 65 and older can register for the vaccine through the department of health here: https://redcap.vdh.virginia.gov/redcap/surveys/?s=9YKFTTY3TA.

All Virginia residents can sign up for pre-registration here: https://vaccinate.virginia.gov/?fbclid=IwAR1ga4a74WEysQmkmLWpFLk64HZaMdiqSrKWLEHQwplqPhRyMPuqCI9N_Vs

December 8, 2020

HOAF December 2020 Covid-19 Update

As the unfortunate number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise, our priority will remain to keep you, your family, and our staff safe. We have determined at this time that to lower the potential for exposures, we will need to limit the number of visitors in our office. We understand the importance of having them with you; however, we must remain diligent in our infection prevention efforts.

Effective 12/21/2020, we are allowing visitors for the following visits ONLY:

New Oncology Office Visits
Patient Education Visit
Biopsy Reviews
Office Scan Review

All other visits we ask that you be prepared to attend only. Our infusion center continues to strictly follow the NO VISITOR policy.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we implement these restrictions. Keeping you on schedule for your visits and treatments is our number one priority and the best way to ensure this happens is keeping you and our staff safe and healthy.

As the COVID pandemic continues, our COVID Task Force will continue to evaluate statistics and follow CDC and VDH guidelines. Visitor restrictions will be lifted when and if it is deemed safe and appropriate.

October 22, 2020

An Update Regarding Corona Virus (Covid-19) 10/22/2020

We at Hematology Oncology Associates of Fredericksburg (and Stafford) strive to keep our patients, caregivers, staff and colleagues safe. We are actively following the recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for screening and management of patients.

We will be screening our patients and visitors for COVID-19 infection by asking:
• Have you had any fevers, respiratory symptoms, such as a cough and
shortness of breath, chills?
• Have you or anyone in your family test positive for COVID-19?

If yes, when? Our current protocol requires anyone who has tested positive to have ONE negative test prior to their return to the office, OR you tested positive greater than 12 weeks ago.

These questions will help us determine whether you should be seen in our clinic, if a telehealth visit is appropriate, or if you should be seen by our acute Advanced Practice Provider through our outside COVID-19 triage area.

If you answered YES to any of the above questions prior to your arrival, please call our office immediately at 371-0079 ext 181 and discuss your symptoms or COVID-19 status. Again, DO NOT come in for your appointment if you have the above symptoms.

We ask all patients and visitors to wear your mask for the ENTIRE visit whether you are seeing the doctor, coming in for labs/injections, or receiving treatment. Please do not pull down your mask at any time as this increases the risk for exposures, even when alone.

Current Visitor Policy: Patients and ONE visitor is allowed for office visits should you feel that it is necessary. We can offer the use of facetime or phoning in for your family members if you are able to attend alone. Our goal is to reduce the risk of exposure for all patients, family members, visitors, and staff.

Chemotherapy and Infusion Visits are still PATIENT ONLY. No visitors allowed. Exceptions would be patients requiring translation services and those patients that need additional physical assistance.

Our visitor policy is subject to change as we continue to follow the CDC and VDH guidelines.

We must all do our part to help prevent the spread. You can help protect yourself and others by limiting the number of visitors you bring with you to the office, and by avoiding large crowds, other sick individuals, and traveling. Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds, and wear your mask when out in public.

April 9, 2020

Telehealth – Virtual Appointments through Doxy.Me

In order to prevent any unnecessary risk to our patient population, the providers at Hematology Oncology Associates of Fredericksburg (HOAF) have agreed to incorporate virtual visits when appropriate. These visits will work through a platform called “Doxy.me”. Please visit hoaf.doxy.me for your scheduled appointments.

Once you are on the homepage enter the name of the physician/NP that you are meeting with and select “Enter Room”. If you have any questions or issues accessing your virtual appointment please call our office at 540-371-0079.

March 9, 2020

HOAF Guidelines on Corona Virus, Covid-19

AN UPDATE REGARDING CORONA VIRUS (COVID 19)
We at Hematology Oncology Associates of Fredericksburg (and Stafford) strive to keep our patients, caregivers, staff and colleagues safe. With growing numbers of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases nationwide and in the state of Virginia, we are following the recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for screening and management of patients.

We will be screening our patients for COVID-19 infection by asking:
• Do you or someone close to you have fever, respiratory symptoms, such as a cough and
shortness of breath?
• Have you or someone close to you traveled to an affected geographic area within 2 weeks of
symptom onset, or have you been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19?

These questions will help us determine whether you should be seen in our clinic or in a setting that is better equipped for this situation (emergency room, etc.) If you answered YES to any of the above questions, please call our office immediately at 371-0079 and follow the prompts PRIOR to your appointment so that we can discuss how best to take care of you.

Again, DO NOT come in for your appointment if you have the above symptoms. If you do come in with these symptoms, you will be asked to return to your car and call our office at 371-0079 for a
telephone assessment so we do not expose other patients and staff.
We must all do our part to help prevent the spread. You can help protect yourself and others by limiting the number of visitors you bring with you to the office, and by avoiding large crowds, other sick individuals, and traveling. Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds, do not touch your face,
avoid handshakes and hugging or kissing.

Please see the updated Visitors policy below. Now one visitor is allowed for new oncology patient visits, teach appointments, medically fragile and those requiring translation. We value the support of the caretakers and still want to include them by phone but for now the safety of our patients, staff and families must take precedent.

NO VISITORS

In order to keep our patients and staff safe, we are following CDC guidelines and prohibiting visitors with patients. Only exceptions include:

Patient Education Appointment Prior to Beginning Chemotherapy
Initial New Oncology Patient Visit
Patients Requiring Physical Assistance
In Some Cases, Translation Needs (If We Do Not Provide the Translator)

We will allow only one visitor with patients that fall into these exceptions.

Because this is a rapidly changing situation, local public health authorities have updated information regarding travel and other questions. Please contact your local Health Department for any additional questions or concerns or visit www.cdc.gov. Listen to the Corona Virus, Covid-19 HOAF podcast recorded with Dr. Vaughn and our task force, now at: https://www.hoafredericksburg.com/2020/03/23/corona-virus-covid-19-hoaf-response-task-force/.

Category

COVID-19