Dear Patient,

We understand that Coronavirus (COVID-19) is at the forefront of everyones' mind. In the wake of this virus, Colorado Retina is making it our top priority to take the appropriate precautionary and preventative measures to prevent further spread, while ensuring the health and safety of each of our patients, physicians, and staff members.

Currently, we are  limiting in-clinic visits to only essential patients  with: sudden vision changes, urgent intravitreal injections, retinal detachments, retinal tears, postoperative follow-up exams, endophthalmitis, and Wet AMD. All “elective” retinal surgeries that can safely be postponed will be rescheduled into mid-May.

As the restrictions imposed upon us all by the COVID-19 pandemic begin to lift, we are beginning to open offices and physician schedules to meet your needs. Our goal is to facilitate timely visits for established and new patients. However, we must strike a balance between accessibility, and our responsibility for the health and safety of patients and staff. Therefore, the process of re-opening will be gradual and cautious. We appreciate your patience during the incremental transition to full-availability.

With the ongoing pandemic, our established patients now have the opportunity to schedule telemedicine video conferencing appointments with their physician to avoid leaving home. If interested, please email or call us for more information.

Our Lafayette clinic is temporarily closed , but will re-open to see essential patients on May 18th, 2020 . Our Frisco clinic is temporarily closed , in accordance with Colorado authorities' recommendations. We have plans to reopen early May and will update patients once we have a firm date. In the meantime, all necessary appointments and surgeries will be rescheduled to one of our other four Denver Metro locations.

Colorado Retina will continue to communicate clearly as we establish a "new normal" in a post-COVID world, together. Thank you in advance for your cooperation, support, and efforts to help keep our clinics clean, safe, and unexposed from risk. We hope to see you soon!

- Colorado Retina Physicians
NEW CHECK-IN PROCEDURES: PRE-SCREENING
In response to this outbreak, we have implemented new check-in procedures.

Effective immediately, patients are REQUIRED to wear a protective face covering , mask, or bandana to any scheduled appointment.

Upon appointment arrival, the patient and caregiver will be pre-screened prior to entry for any for COVID-19 symptoms. During the pre-screen process, the patient/caregiver temperature will be taken by a CRA staff member, no person showing over a 100 degree body temperature will be allowed inside our clinics.

The patient will be asked to enter the clinic alone , unless a caregiver's assistance is required for mobility reasons. All accompanied guests need to remain outside the clinic. Upon appointment arrival the patient and caregiver will be given exact instructions by the CRA designated staff screener.

Pre-screen questions are as follows, if you answer YES to any of the following questions, we kindly ask you call to reschedule your appointment.
  1. Have you traveled anywhere outside of Colorado in the past 14 days?
  2. Have you had a fever in the last two weeks?
  3. Have you experienced a cough, shortness of breath, or a sore throat in the last two weeks?
  4. Have you experienced loss of sense of smell or taste in the last two weeks?
  5. Have you had any exposure to a known COVID case?  

Please be transparent about your recent travel endeavors, pre-existing conditions, and overall state of well-being .

If for whatever reason our staff finds that you are unable to proceed with your appointment, we will reschedule you to a future time.
SYMPTOMS
If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, please call
(303) 261-1600 to reschedule your appointment:
Cough or Sore Throat
Loss of Sense of Smell and/or Taste
Sneezing, Runny, or Stuffy Nose
Muscle Pain, Body Weakness or Body Aches
Fatigue, S hortness of Breath, or Difficulty Breathing
Nausea or Vomiting
Fever over 100 Degrees, or Chills
Irregular Impaired Liver, Lung, or Kidney Functions
IN-CLINIC APPOINTMENTS
For all scheduled appointments, please follow the below guidelines:
  1. The patient and caregiver are now required to wear a protective face covering (mask).
  2. The patient should enter our clinic alone. Caregivers and family members will be asked to remain outside the clinic during the patient visit, unless their presence is absolutely necessary for mobility reasons. Please, no children in attendance.
  3. Check to ensure your accompanied caregiver is not/has not experienced any of the above symptoms or has traveled outside the state of Colorado in the past 14 days prior to your scheduled appointment.
  4. If you have experienced any of the above COVID-19 symptoms within two weeks prior to your scheduled appointment, please call us to reschedule.
  5. For appointments requiring a reschedule, we are indefinitely waiving all late cancellation fees, no questions asked.
SURGERY
All “elective” retinal surgeries that can safely be postponed will be rescheduled to at least EARLY MAY , in accordance with current guidelines.

We continue to perform all urgent/emergent surgical cases at this time. We are actively coordinating with our hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to maintain access for urgent and emergent surgical cases. We will continue to provide updates as surgical access expands.
URGENT/EMERGENT CARE
For all patients who have urgent medical questions, require emergency care or feel they need to be seen or virtually accessed by a Colorado Retina physician within  72-hours , call our triage line for immediate assistance . All urgent/same-day appointment requests will be evaluated immediately to determine urgency, our call-center team will be following strict physician direction. 

Our triage department is available via phone at  (303) 261-1600 x1 ,  Monday-Friday from 8:00am-5:00pm MST . We also have a 24/7 (including weekends and holidays) designated on-call physician to ensure we are fulfilling the needs of our patients at all times.
PREVENTION
  • Wear a protective face covering/mask in public and to your scheduled appointment to limit exposure to airborne droplets. Due to limited availability, we are unfortunately unable to provide masks for patients in clinic at this time.
  • Wash your hands upon appointment arrival and again upon departure. Hand washing procedures: Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds.
  • Utilize hand sanitizer, available at the front desk and in each exam room
  • Avoid touching your face: eyes, nose, and mouth. Even when you are wearing a face covering, avoid touching any areas of the mask or your face with your hands.
  • Maintain a 6-foot distance between yourself and other patients. We have limited waiting room seating to make this possible.
  • If you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with your flexed elbow or tissue. Discard tissues immediately, follow with hand sanitizer or better yet, hand washing.  
RESOURCES
Please note, our clinics are unable to test for COVID-19 , only Colorado designated labs are able to provide such testing. We do however recommend that you closely follow the guidelines issued by the CDC in order to protect yourself and those around you.

If you are experiencing a fever, cough, difficulty breathing, or respiratory symptoms, please seek medical care early by calling your primary health care provider.

Additionally, our staff had vowed to continually disinfect every chair, handrail, surface, and other such tangible items inside the clinics, taking elevated deep cleaning safety measures.

We will continue to closely monitor recommendations and medical protocols established by the World Health Organization (WHO), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Colorado public health departments in order to prevent the spread of this virus.

For more information regarding the virus, vaccines, news, FAQ, etc., visit the following websites for the below health organizations:

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

World Health Organization (WHO)
THANK YOU
We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this state of emergency.
If you have any questions or concerns in regard to our new check-in screening procedures, or need to reschedule your upcoming appointment, please call us at
(303) 261-1600 .


Sincerely,
Colorado Retina Associates
Physicians & Management


CONTACT US:
Main: (303) 261-1600
Triage: (303) 261-1600 x1