Healthcare organizations were rocked to their core last year when COVID-19 rapidly started spreading across the United States. It quickly changed the way business was conducted, how clinics were run, what procedures were deemed necessary, etc. Non-emergent healthcare as we knew it shut down almost entirely for two months while we were learning what this new disease was.
Fast forward a year. We now know COVID is an airborne illness that affects everyone differently. Some individuals do not know they are infected, some have mild cases, and others can be hospitalized or even die from the virus. Vaccines are working and are readily available. In the United States, we are fortunate the numbers are generally on the decline. The message we want to get out to the public now is don’t delay your healthcare any further. We are open, we are safe and we are clean.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of adults in the United States delayed their healthcare in the last year including 12% that didn’t seek out urgent or emergency care and 31.5% that didn’t continue with routine care. The fear amongst the healthcare community is that we could see a subtle, steady increase of serious health problems down the road from people missing their routine exams and screenings. The National Cancer Institute alone is predicting upwards of 10,000 additional deaths in the next 10 years due to breast and colon cancer being undiagnosed.
Let this information be reason for you to call and get back on the schedule. Don’t delay. To reiterate, all staff and visitors are screened as they enter, everyone is required to wear a mask while in the building, and a vast majority of our staff is vaccinated. Delaying your routine care is detrimental to your health, so take care of yourself.
