Tiny Oaks Pediatrics

Mask Mandate Policy Update as of July 13th 2022

At Tiny Oaks Pediatrics, we encourage and strongly recommend that all visitors coming into the office to wear a mask whenever possible. As for sick patients coming in, i.e. child with a runny nose, cough, fever, vomiting/diarrhea or other Covid19 related symptoms, parent and child must wear a mask, patients under 2y of age are exempted from wearing a mask.

Our guiding principles are:
1. Continue to provide the best healthcare services that we possibly can to our patients
2. Prevent spread of COVID-19 through the community
3. Maintain, always, the health, safety and well-being of our patients, employees, physicians, associates, and community at large.

Measures in effect since March 18, 2020:
1. We continue to schedule appointment and honor all appointments already scheduled.
2. We convert as many scheduled appointments as possible to virtual encounters using telemedicine or telephone when appropriate.
3. Only patients who require an in person appointment should come in to the clinic.  Who should still be attending the clinic? All infants who need weight checks and vaccinations. Older children who need routine vaccinations. Children who have been seen by a physician virtually and asked to come in. Other children accepted for appointments on a case-by-case basis.  Of course, as with all other years, but especially during this COVID-19 pandemic we are encouraging all patients and families to receive a flu vaccine. If you are not sure, please call the clinic first! 

4. Only patients/parents/guardians who are completely free of infectious symptoms are permitted to enter the clinic for regular check ups. Please check with the office ahead of time if it is okay to come in if there have been any new symptoms in the child or other household members in the last 72 hours.

5. All patients who need to be seen in person are screened on the phone and again upon arrival. Only those who pass the screen will be allowed to come to clinic for their scheduled appointment. There must be no more than one parent/guardian accompanying any patient(s) when coming into the clinic.  Siblings must be left at home. Other family members can attend the clinic visit over speaker phone, if desired.
6.  Face mask. Children under 2 years do not need to wear a mask.  Everyone else should wear a mask. If there are reasons you can’t wear a mask, please discuss before your appointment. Try to encourage proper mask use (covering nose, mouth and chin). Try to avoid touching the mask as much as possible.

7.  Waiting rooms are used with restrictions at this time. If you arrive early, you may be asked to wait in your car or outside the office. If you arrive late, you may be asked to wait outside the office until there is a gap or you may be asked to re-schedule the clinic visit. Given the current restrictions, you may not be able to feed your infant in the office after a clinic visit.

8.  What will the physician look like? Depending on the risk level in the specific community, physicians may be wearing scrubs, gowns, masks and/or face shields. This often scares infants and toddlers; however, it is necessary for everyone’s safety, especially, your child’s. Give your little one heads up about our new look.

9.  What to bring? Mask for you (and your child, as applicable). Try to avoid bringing extra belongings into the office for your own safety. If you think that your child will need something to play with during the clinic visit, please bring your own washable toys.

10.  How are we protecting you from Covid-19 in our office? Option of virtual visits. Masking/face shield/barriers for all people who work in the office. Families should not be spending much time in the waiting room. All extra items have been removed from the waiting room and clinic rooms. Equipment, scales, beds, countertop, and chairs are being cleaned between each patient. Patients are being booked in time slots that allow for distancing 

 If you have an appointment booked for the upcoming week, you will receive an email to remind you of your appointment as well as a Covid19 screening which should be completed by any patient attending to an in person.

If a patient needs to be urgently seen, they can have a scheduled telemedicine/phone visit from one of the pediatricians during regular business hours.  Alternatively, the patient should be taken to the emergency room.

Remember, COVID-19 is a viral illness.  No antibiotics are required to treat it. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us. We will do our very best to have a doctor get back to you by phone or telemedicine to address your concerns. The best way to contact us is to call our office at (289) 386 0811.  As phone lines are typically busy, you may be prompted to leave a voicemail.  In doing so, please provide the reason for your call or question that you have, as well as the following information:
1. your child’s name and date of birth.
2. the telephone number at which you can be reached.
Please leave only one message.
Our administrative staff will call you back to schedule a telemedicine or phone visit. Please understand that although our staff will try to be as timely as possible returning calls, it might take up to 2 business days to get back to you.

For advice call Ontario Telehealth at 1-866-797-0000.

For emergencies, call 911. 

CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html 

Halton Region Covid19 Vaccines
https://www.halton.ca/For-Residents/New-Coronavirus/COVID-19-Vaccines

Please keep in mind that the COVID19 Pandemic situation keeps changing very quickly, we at Tiny Oaks Pediatrics may have to adjust our plans accordingly. We will be posting here and at our Facebook page updated information.

Hospital for Sick Children

http://www.sickkids.ca/PDFs/About-SickKids/81497-COVID19-Recommendations-for-School-Reopening-SickKids-JUNE.pdf

https://www.sickkids.ca/en/news/archive/2021/covid19-updated-guidance-school-operation-during-pandemic/

HSC Press Conference video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe2I0wlrqMM&feature=youtu.be

Back to school/Back to Daycare/Back to Work Self Attestation 

We believe that Doctor’s notes are not an appropriate use of health system resources; they potentially put patients, teachers and contacts at further risk and physicians are not generally in a position to adjudicate such matters.

Instead, we feel that parents and families can use this “Self-Attestation” form to fill and assess whether or not it is safe or prudent to go back to school/daycare or work. Please be honest and responsible when completing the checklist as the continued control of spread of virus in our community depends on strategies to keep those who may spread the disease away from others. 

Please select the options below when going back to school, daycare or work: 

Child’s Name: ____________________________________________________________________  

• My child was sent home from school or daycare because of an illness and has been isolated at home for 14 days and currently has no signs of any illness.
• My child was sent home from school or daycare because of a suspected illness and was observed for 24 hours. He or she has never become sick and is currently well with no signs of illness.
• My child was sent home from school or daycare because of a suspected illness and was found to have another diagnosis not COVID. He or she has been observed for 24 hours and is now well with no signs of illness.
• My child has had a negative COVID-19 test for his/her current illness and may return to school.
• My child has had a negative COVID-19 test because of a suspected or true COVID-19 contact and may return to school.
• My child has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been isolated at home for at least 14 days and is currently well with no symptoms and may return to school.

Date of Negative COVID-19 test: ________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name: _____________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature: ____________________________________________________________________