A message from Western OB/GYN to its patients

Update from Clinic, April 20, 2020:

As the days grow longer and the sun forces winter away – we are reminded that, indeed, ‘hope springs eternal.’ We are beginning now to see the earliest indications of progress against the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are a few changes you’ll be noticing in the coming days as we do our part to help prevent the spread of this virus. Our clinic staff has already been wearing masks for your protection, and now we’d also like to respectfully ask that you do the same. This is not a requirement, but is in alignment with guidance from the CDC as well as from Governor Walz. Any facial covering you have access to does help prevent inadvertent spread to our staff and other patients, and your help with this is appreciated. In addition, we have temporarily adjusted our physician schedules such that the doctors will be dedicated either to the hospital or the clinic for a week at a time. This may cause an additional need for the rescheduling of your appointments, and we greatly appreciate your ongoing patients with this.

Remember, these changes are all being done to ensure safe access to the health care you need. We need to protect you, our patients, the clinics and hospital and providers and staff caring for you and others. All of these resources are being protected so that they are safe, and ready for you when you need them. Our expectant moms are invited to have one health support person with them, who may remain with them and their babies during their stay at Ridgeview. The current Labor & Delivery guidelines at Ridgeview Medical Center can be found on Ridgeview’s website.

We’ve been so happy to see how great the births at Ridgeview have been going with all the current safety protocols in place. Using technology, the grandparents and other family members are “virtually” present for the cheers of triumph and the tears of joy – just like always. The emotions and enormity of this great event has not changed. Thank you for trusting us to care for you.

March 2020 message:

To our valued patients,
For over 40 years, Western OB/Gyn has been providing the highest quality of health care to the women of our community. In 2020, we are now faced with new challenges in providing that care to you. With the COVID-19 crisis, we must care for you in new ways, doing everything in our power to maintain your access to health care. We must ensure you have both a safe clinic environment, and providers available to respond to your needs. We also share a responsibility to others in our community at large, calling on us to be good stewards of health care resources.

To this end, we are taking temporary steps to reduce our clinic volumes, increase social distancing, and conserve resources. This will likely cause you some degree of inconvenience, and for this we ask your patience and understanding. We are currently restricting any family members or guests from entering the clinic for your appointment. For your delivery and postpartum care, however, you will still be allowed to have a single support person with you. In the clinic, do not be alarmed to see us wearing masks. This is an additional step we are taking to keep the clinic safe for you.

At this time we will be moving all preventative health care examinations back to May, as an initial intervention. If you already have your appointment scheduled, you will be contacted by our staff. Arrangements will be made for refilling your prescriptions, and you will be offered a future appointment time. If you have needs that require more immediate assistance, please let us know and you will be called by your provider to address this. New appointments will be booking into May.

There will also be temporary changes to your prenatal care as we will be making use of telemedicine visits and, if deemed appropriate by your provider, decreasing the frequency of your visits.

We will also maintain your access to gynecologic care. Requests for gynecologic visits will be addressed by your provider for same-day appointments, same-week appointments, or telemedicine visits. Non-urgent surgical procedures have already been postponed.
To help give you the most accurate, scientific, and up to date information, we are dedicating time and resources to frequently updating our website. Here you will find the same (and rapidly evolving) recommendations from the CDC that we utilize to guide our medical decision making. We will also use the site to notify you of changes that impact scheduling at the clinic, answer commonly asked questions, and provide other valuable resources that are available as we make our way through this extraordinary time. Please consider using the site as your first resource for information from us.

Be assured, the providers and staff at Western are here for you. We are vigilantly protecting our site by screening all patients and family members prior to entering, have suspended routine ill visits, and are carefully disinfecting our space in accordance with CDC guidelines. We are also being mindful of protecting our own health, so that we are available to provide you with the high quality care and individualized attention that you deserve.

Please remember, the scientific knowledge, technology, and ingenuity that we have to combat this crisis is unmatched in the world, and we will get through this together!

In health,

The providers of Western OB/Gyn, a division of Ridgeview Clinics

Western OB/GYN, a Division of Ridgeview Clinics, is following recommendations from MDH and CDC in regard to Coronavirus. For specific information about Coronavirus, please visit the following links:

www.ridgeviewmedical.org/care-treatment/infectious-disease-care/coronaviruscovid-19/
https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/basics.html