Paul Purcell, co-owner of Step Pediatrics, said his patient volume is down by between 40%-50% where it typically is around this time of year, and both salaries and staff have had to be reduced.
"To say we have been working day and night to come up with strategies and tactics is almost true," Purcell said. "It's been emotionally demanding."
In order to keep children coming in for their scheduled wellness and vaccination appointments, Purcell said schedules have been adjusted so children who are not sick come in earlier in the day and children who are potentially sick come in later during the day. The practice is also utilizing telemedicine to speak with parents and patients to limit contact, which it initially began incorporating in September.
"I'm very proud of our practice," Purcell said. "We were able to implement telemedicine on a limited scale. ... It was wildly successful. When it was clear we needed to ramp up, we had a lot of the equipment already purchased, and it was a very easy transition to scale up to include all four of my doctors."
Purcell said he and his wife plan to keep the business open and going unless they run out of money or fail completely, and he encourages those who might be sick to still call their primary care physicians.
"We as medical practices are smart enough to determine whether you need to come in or if we can see you via telemedicine," he said. "If the patients are afraid to leave their homes and get what they need, that's going to make things worse down the road."
Purcell added as a medical practice, primary care physicians know they are essential and are doing the best they can to stay open, provide services and stay open.
