"I'm in a small solo office, I have one employee, and we've been able to continue,” Terry said. "The business model that I'm in with direct primary care ... was a little bit more immune to the downturn simply because we weren't dependent on having a volume of patients through the office.”
Where some private dental practices in Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake sought financial assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program, Terry said that was not necessary for his office.
“We didn't apply for PPP, and we've been going along, and hopefully, [we] will continue to be able to serve our patients,” he said.
However, steady business coming through the doors does not protect Terry from accessing hard-to-find medical supplies, such as personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing supplies.
“Our supplies are dwindling down, and it was back-ordered, so I'm not sure exactly when it's going to get in. I had to order supplies for testing,” he said.
Terry said he has also stayed busy providing COVID-19 testing services.
"The very first [test] we did was March 22,” Terry said. "We've been doing those as needed, and [we are] now getting low on supplies to be able to do the test.”
Still, Terry said he was able to sidestep the worst of the effects of stay-at-home orders by offering some services online and continuing to see ill patients.
"[The pandemic] had ... less of an impact on my practice than it did on what would be considered typical medical practice for primary care,” he said.
