Many KY medical offices reopen for business, but financial headaches far from over
Hundreds of Kentucky chiropractors, optometrists, physical therapists and other specialty medical providers opened their doors Monday to regular patients for the first time since mid-March, marking the end of a month-long shutdown caused by the new coronavirus.
Several offices reported backlogs of patients who have been waiting to receive treatment for weeks, but additional precautions ordered by Gov. Andy Beshear have limited the number of patients that specialized health care providers can see per day by 50 percent or more in many cases.
For patients who were able to make appointments Monday, the visits were anything but normal.
Waiting rooms sat empty as patients waited in their cars for a text or phone call notifying them it was their turn to enter the building. Once inside, they were required to wear masks and have their temperatures taken.
Every staff member, from the secretary to the specialist, was wearing a mask as well.
Carly Willoughby, the office manager at Stinson Chiropractic Center in Lexington, said those additional precautions, including the mandatory social distancing between patients, has cut down the number of clients they can see every day by half.
“I’m so glad that we’re able to treat our patients, but from our standpoint we just want to be as careful as we can,” Willoughby said.
Willoughby’s office was able to take patients about every 20 minutes on Monday, as opposed to every 10 minutes under pre-coronavirus conditions.
Willoughby said she and her co-workers are trying to see as many patients as possible under Beshear’s new regulations, but it will take time to adjust to the new workflow.
“Today is our first day, we’ve kind of been thrown to the wolves,” Willoughby said. “We have definitely had to decrease our patient load which is unfortunate — we’ve had people waiting to get in for over a month.”
Monday was the first day in Beshear’s “phase one” health care reopening plan.
Kentucky officials have emphasized that the state’s re-opening will come gradually to reduce the chances of another surge in COVID-19 cases. Health care businesses, which already have training in the use of PPE and proper sanitation, are the first step in lifting restrictions across the broader economy.
“None of us wants to reopen our economy in a way that sets us back,” Beshear said last week. “Your business cannot look the same, when you are able to gradually restart, as it did before.”
The reduction in patient load will force many offices that laid off or furloughed employees to continue on a skeleton crew of workers.
Phillip Maroudis, an optometrist in Ashland, said his offices was able to see patients needing urgent care during the shutdown, but the sharp decline in business forced him to lay off several employees.
“With no income coming in, it’s a problem,” Maroudis said.
Even with Beshear’s permission to open Monday, Dr. David Eads, an optometrist in Somerset since 1985, said he plans to reopen May 11, after he makes modifications such as installing plexiglass shields at desks in order to protect employees.
Eads said he is anxious to get back to work, but also a “little concerned” about his safety and that of his staff.
“I just want to do it right,” he said.
While Monday’s re-opening came as a welcome return to some level of normalcy for clinicians and their patients, the experience of visiting chiropractors, physical therapists and other specialists will be markedly different for the foreseeable future.
Dr. Chad Henderson, a chiropractor in Somerset for 22 years who sits on the Kentucky Chiropractic Board of Examiners, said his patients are screened by phone when making appointments about their health and potential illness, and have to sign a form with the answers when they arrive.
“We are certainly taking many, many more precautions,” he said.
In addition to the health screenings over the phone, Henderson said his staffers have their temperature taken when they arrive for work. His staff have always sanitized beds and equipment between patients, but they have placed a greater emphasis on that during the re-opening, he said.
“Patients are very, very excited we’re open,” he said. “People were ready to have their needs addressed.”
Like other businesses, Henderson will only be able to see about half as many patients as he would under normal circumstances.
The hardest thing for him during the shutdown was getting calls and contacts from people who were in pain when he wasn’t able to see them.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he said.
Some businesses, such as dentists offices, will take longer to re-open because of more-stringent protocols and a shortage of some personal protective equipment.
Eddy Clark Jr., a dentist in Prestonsburg, said many of the personal protective equipment providers have waiting lists for N95 masks, non-latex gloves, face shields and other equipment required under Beshear’s new rules.
“My problem right now ... is now that I see all they want us to do I’m gonna have to take the time to make sure I can get the protective equipment to do this right,” Clark said.
His office likely won’t be able to re-open for about another week, he said.
In a report issued Sunday, the Kentucky Dental Association said many PPE suppliers are are still giving front-line health care workers priority, leaving dentists temporarily unable to receive that equipment.
“With the Governor’s date of April 27th, we anticipate that this will ease up some, but PPE will remain a grim challenge for most offices for a period of time,” the report said.
The full economic impact of the reopening is uncertain. While many businesses began seeing patients Monday, the decline in patients could cut their revenues in half, and requirements to purchase protective gear could add an additional expense on top of the decline in traffic.
Scott Fuller, director of corporate operations for PT Pros Physical Therapy & Sports Centers, which operates clinics in 11 Kentucky cities, said PT Pros furloughed all of its employees, more than 100 people, at the beginning of the shutdown.
The company later opened some clinics for urgent cases, with one therapist per location.
Monday marked the first day where ordinary patients could return for their treatments, but Fuller said it’s not yet clear if the company will be able to recall all the former employees.
“The shutdown — it was painful,” he said. “We’re just gonna have to see how this rides out.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
