The Spine Center has been actively monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our patient care and office protocols. We are committed to continuing to provide excellent care for our patients in an environment that is safe for both patients and our staff. In conjunction with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, we have created and implemented a strategic plan using best practices to minimize the risk of person-to-person COVID-19 exposure in our practice. Our offices will remain open and we are committed to making our offices one of the safest places you can visit outside your home. Additionally, we are offering Tele-Health appointments for those who would like to be seen by one of our Providers in the comfort of their own home.
Safety Precautions:
- Lutheran General staff is actively checking all employee temperatures at the entrance to ensure no one is working with a fever or cough. Anyone identified with elevated temperature or illness will be sent home.
- The Spine Center has suspended vendors and any other outside visitors from all of our offices.
- The Spine Center has implemented more aggressive cleaning protocols, including regularly disinfecting patient rooms after each visit, as well as regularly cleaning common areas that will continue to occur frequently throughout the day.
Patient Precautions:
- The entrance to the Parkside Building where our office is located is closed to patients/visitors. When you arrive for your appointment, please enter through the main entrance to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and make your way down the hallway to the Parkside Building.
- Lutheran General staff will be screening patients at the entrance for symptoms of illness prior to entering the building.
- All Patients coming into the office must wear a face mask or face covering to be seen.
- The Spine Center will ask anyone exhibiting symptoms of illness to go home and inform their primary care doctor.
- To ensure social distancing, no visitors are allowed except one parent for minor children or one visitor for patients requiring assistance. We recognize that there may be some exceptions to this rule and will work to accommodate your needs.
- The Spine Center is limiting the number of daily appointments to decrease the number of patients in the waiting area at one time. If there are other patients in that waiting area at the same time, please try to follow social distancing measures by sitting at least 6 feet apart.
- The Spine Center has removed all magazines, samples, and other loose items from the waiting room and exam rooms so that efficient sterilization can be performed between each patient.
Hospital Admissions and Surgical Precautions:
- The Spine Center is now able to schedule some surgeries depending on the urgency and risk of the procedure.
- Emergency surgeries in which a delay in care may lead to significant disability will proceed as usual.
- Scheduled elective surgeries will go through a screening process by the hospital. Depending on numerous factors including the current hospital burden of COVID-19 patients at that time, the surgery may or may not be approved. This may change on a daily basis and depends on hospital resources on any given day.
- All patients that are scheduled for surgery must be tested for COVID 48-72 hours prior to surgery. The hospital will arrange for the test at one of their testing sites. Once the patient is confirmed to have a negative test, they must remain quarantined at home until their scheduled surgery in order to minimize the risk of exposure after their test.
- Patients admitted emergently will be tested for COVID-19 in the emergency room.
- One visitor is allowed to accompany patients before surgery and stay in the waiting room while the patient is in surgery. No visitors (with some exceptions) will be allowed onto the patient floors in the hospital at this time.
- Certain floors in the hospital have been designated for COVID-19 patients. Please be assured that you or your loved ones will not be near these floors while in the hospital.
- Please see Advocate Lutheran General Hospital’s “Safe Care Promise” for additional details.
Office Visit Policy: Procedures & Guidelines for Covid-19
We are committed to ensuring the safety of our patients and visitors during Covid-19. The following procedures and guidelines are in place for office visit appointments until further notice:
- Masks are required at all times while on the hospital campus and in all of the buildings.
- Patients are allowed one caregiver or visitor to attend the appointment with them.
- Please enter through the Lutheran General main hospital entrance, the Parkside entrance is closed to patients and visitors.
- You will have a health screening before being allowed to enter.
- Please reschedule your appointment if you have any of the following symptoms: fever, coughing, sneezing, flu-like symptoms or recent contact with someone who is ill.
- After your health screening, please follow the signs directing you to the Parkside building elevator ‘P’. If you are unable to walk, there is wheelchair escort available for you.
- All elevators have a limit of 2 passengers per car.
- While in our waiting room lobby, please adhere to social distancing guidelines.
- Please allow enough extra time before your appointment to accommodate these new procedures.