For patients:
- If you have symptoms that could be caused by an illness, such as runny nose, congestion, cough, we ask that you wear a mask in the office, even if you feel your symptoms are caused by allergies.
- If you have no symptoms, you don’t need to wear a mask.
For staff:
- Clinical staff (providers, medical assistants, nurses) will continue to wear masks when interacting with patients.
- Non-clinical staff (front desk, administration) will wear masks if they have symptoms that could be caused by an illness, like runny nose, congestion, cough, etc.
Why have a mask policy at all? Isn’t COVID over?
The COVID pandemic is over, but COVID is still around. More than that, during the COVID pandemic, pediatric ER visits and hospital admissions for asthma went down by up to 85% because of all the colds and viruses that kids weren’t getting. Similar but less significant reductions were seen in adults.
We take care of adults and kids with asthma and immunodeficiencies. A large part of our job is examining and spending time with patients with allergy symptoms, which can be very similar to symptoms caused by viral illnesses. We don’t like wearing masks, but we feel that the best way to keep everyone safe is to wear masks so we don’t spread illnesses from patient to patient. No one wants to get sick from going to the doctor!