In a continuing effort to prevent the spread of viral illnesses Plessen Healthcare has updated clinic hours and policies as follows:
ST CROIX, USVI, March 19, 2020 – Plessen Healthcare continues to closely monitor the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and will adjust protocols as necessary in order to best protect our patients, medical professionals, and employees while continuing to provide care for our US Virgin Islands community. Updates to these protocols will be announced as necessary.
Surgical Services: The Governing Board of Plessen Healthcare voted yesterday, March 18th, 2020, to defer elective surgeries at the Orange Grove facility as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Therefore elective, non-progressive surgeries will be postponed until after April 6th, 2020. Any cases presenting to the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) will be reviewed by the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tasnim Khan. Case-by-case analysis will be used to determine which are medically necessary, which have potential to become progressive in nature and whether delaying treatment could potentially harm the patient. For those identified cases, an on-call team will be available during regular business hours. Plessen Healthcare will continue to provide services to all dialysis patients in need of treatment of the hemodialysis access to maintain flow and patency as this is critical to their needs and cannot be delayed. The ASC hours are: ON CALL ONLY Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. Plessen Medical Clinic:Effective as of March 18th, 2020, the Medical Clinic will reduce its hours to normal business hours Monday through Friday. Extended hours as well as the Saturday hours will be discontinued. Medical services will be geared toward triage first, outside the building and office visits will focus on urgent needs. As much as is possible, all regular follow up visits will be rescheduled to Telemedicine visits. The Medical Clinic hours are: Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm. Plessen Ophthalmology Clinic:Plessen Ophthalmology is accepting emergencies, post-surgical follow ups, and patients receiving a necessary scheduled treatment. All injection patients, post-op patients, and patients presenting with an emergent or urgent case will continue to be seen based on physician availability. For the purpose of clarity, the definition of “urgent” shall also include patients with conditions that could lead to permanent vision loss in the absence of intervention. Non-Urgent Care: With limited exceptions, all new non-urgent clinical appointments will be scheduled after April 6th. All laser procedures and in-office surgeries will be postponed until after April 6th. The Ophthalmology Clinic office hours are: Monday through Friday 8am to 12pm on St. Croix; Monday through Friday 8am to 11am on St. Thomas Plessen Optical:The optical dispensary will remain open at the same time as the ophthalmology clinic remains open. Plessen Optical office hours are: Monday through Friday 8am to 12pm
At Plessen: We continue to urge patients to utilize Plessen Healthcare’s Telemedicine option instead of visiting the office whenever possible.
To make an appointment please call 340-715-7720, contact us via our website plessenhealthcare.com/contact or by email myhealth@plessenhealthcare.com
At the time of this press release there have been 3 documented case of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), in the US Virgin Islands. For the most up to date information contact theVirgin Islands Department of Health or refer to cdc.gov for daily updates.
About Plessen Healthcare, LLC
Plessen Healthcare, LLC. was founded on St Croix, US Virgin Islands in 2014 by Dr. Jan Tawakol and Dr. Tasnim Khan, on the fundamental belief that world class health care should be accessible to everyone. The Plessen campus includes a full-service, multi-specialty medical clinic and the only CMS accredited surgical center in the USVI. Plessen is committed to affordable, accountable and efficient healthcare and is centrally located within the Caribbean for easy travel from down island, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the U.S. mainland.
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