COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our clinic will be implementing enhanced measures to help mitigate the risks of transmission in order to protect the health of our patients and staff. Every patient will be screened by the physiotherapist by telephone or video call for their appropriateness for an in-person or virtual appointment. Your physiotherapist will advise you if your treatment plan can be safely and effectively carried out through telehealth. In the event that you and your physiotherapist determine that the benefits of an in-person session outweigh the risks, an appointment at the clinic can be scheduled. The following is a list of procedures that patients can expect when attending an in-person assessment or treatment at Live Well Physiotherapy:
1) Access to the clinic will be restricted to staff members and patients. Please do not bring anyone else to your appointment unless the patient is a minor that requires a chaperone or if the patient requires another person for assistance.
2) Please only bring in items that you will need during your appointment. All other personal belongings should be left at home or in your car. Online payments will continue to be available.
3) Please arrive 5 minutes early for your appointment. Upon arrival, please call the clinic at 250-833-0050 to notify the staff of your arrival and follow their instructions on when to enter the clinic for your appointment. If you do not have a cell phone, please knock on the door and wait for a staff member to let you in. This is to ensure physical distancing within our waiting room and treatment area.
4) When you enter the clinic, you will be asked screening questions for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. Anyone who does not pass the screening questions will be asked to reschedule their appointment after the appropriate waiting period. If you have seasonal allergies or another chronic, non-contagious respiratory illness such as asthma or COPD, please consider taking your prescribed or over-the-counter medications as directed by your pharmacist/doctor and/or bring a note from your doctor so that we don't confuse your symptoms with COVID-19.
5) After you have passed the screening questions, you may be asked to remove your shoes and you will be asked sanitize your hands. You will then be taken directly to your treatment room.
6) You will be asked to sanitize your hands before and after using any gym equipment or the pin pad for payment. You will also be asked to sanitize your hands again prior to leaving the clinic. Our staff will be sanitizing our hands frequently too!
7) You will be given the option of contactless payment including online credit card payment, e-transfer or phoning in your credit card. If online or phone payments are not possible, you will be able to use the debit/credit card machine (tap preferred). Receipts will be emailed to avoid passing paper.
8) Please attempt to respect the guidelines for physical distancing whenever possible by staying at least 2 meters apart from other patients or staff members while in the clinic. The waiting area will have areas marked for standing or sitting at a safe distance. Treatment areas are spaced out to adhere to physical distancing guidelines. A plexi-glass barrier has been installed at the reception desk.
9) We recognize that physical distancing from your therapist will not always be possible. Your therapist will be wearing personal protective equipment including a 3 layer mask. We ask that you bring your own cloth or disposable mask for use during your appointment. If you do not have your own mask, the following options are available at the clinic:
a) You may purchase a non-medical, 3 layer disposable mask for $1 (limited supply)
b) You may purchase a cloth mask for $5 donation which will be given to a local charity. Please remember to bring your cloth mask for every appointment and launder it daily.
As we have a limited supply of disposable and cloth masks, please make every effort to bring your own mask until we can replenish our supply.
10) Please remember to use the washroom before coming to your appointment. Our onsite washroom facilities are for emergency use only.
11) Enhanced cleaning protocols have been put in place to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other viruses. We use a disinfectant with a drug identification number (DIN) that has been approved by Health Canada to kill COVID-19. Our clinic disinfects all patient contact items between each patient use. Other areas of the clinic are cleaned on a schedule that adheres to the recommendations of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. All magazines, toys and fabric chairs have been removed from the clinic.
We thank you for your patience as we work to implement these enhanced policies and procedures. Your appointments may be a little bit shorter (60 minutes for assessments and 30 minutes for follow-ups) and may not include some of the modalities that you have had before as we need extra time for cleaning and infection prevention and control procedures. Whenever possible, therapists will not go back and forth between patients to reduce the risk of transmission. These measures have been implemented for the safety of our patients and staff. Your feedback on your experience is greatly appreciated while we work diligently to give you effective treatment in a safe environment.
To request a more detailed copy of our COVID-19 Safety Plan and/or the Policies and Procedures of Live Well Physiotherapy, please contact our office by phone: 250-833-0050 or email: livewellphysio@telus.net.
*The above policies and procedures are subject to change as we follow the evolving guidelines of our regulatory body and health officials of the Government of British Columbia.