UPDATE: 3/17/20
Your safety and health is our highest priority. As such, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are making changes for your protection. For patients with an acute upper respiratory infection, fever, or a cough, we recommend that you be seen by your primary care or urgent care clinic or an appropriate testing center. Elderly and immunosuppressed patients are at higher risk for this disease and we may advise you to cancel your appointment depending on the severity of your condition.
As you enter our clinic, we ask that you:
- Maintain social distancing in our lobby. A six-foot radius is recommended to minimize the risk of disease transmission.
- Minimize the number of people who you bring with you to your appointment.
- Your physician is reviewing their schedule daily. We are adjusting schedules to minimize the chance of a full waiting room and these adjustments are ongoing. Because of this, there may be cancellation of appointments. We will prioritize those patients who need to be seen sooner due to their conditions. If your appointment is cancelled and you feel you need to be seen in a more urgent fashion, please call and ask to speak to one of our nursing staff.
You may notice your provider wearing a face mask. This is not because they are sick, but it is an effort to reduce the chance of transmission in a non-symptomatic situation.
Hospitals are preparing for increased demands and are trying to conserve resources as much as possible. It is very possible that if you have elective surgery scheduled, the procedure may be rescheduled to a later date. We will be in touch with you as soon as possible if that is the case.
We expect a high volume of phone calls during this time, so we appreciate your patience.
Additionally, you can go to our patient portal found at the top right of our webpage at entsc.com and log into our portal to communicate electronically with your medical team.
We appreciate your cooperation. Thank you for trusting us with your medical care. We will do everything we can to continue to provide you with safe, exceptional care in a friendly, respectable and professional environment.
—Nissim Khabie, MD, ENTSC President & Brian Drew, MD, ENTSC Medical Director
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Ear, Nose, & Throat Specialty Care of Minnesota (ENTSC) remains committed to the health and safety of our patients and our staff. That’s why we want to share our protocol for the recent COVID-19 public health concern.
As a specialty healthcare clinic, all ENTSC locations have remained dedicated to proper sanitation routines, especially before and after patient interactions. During this COVID-19 concern, our clinics remain open with regular clinic hours. However, we are putting additional measures in place for your peace of mind:
- Increased cleaning routine to sanitize all surfaces within our facilities
- Screening of patients as they check-in for fever and symptoms of illness
To further help limit those who are exposed, you may be asked to reschedule your appointment if it is “non-emergent” (like a follow-up to a procedure, without any concerns).
We ask that all patients and those accompanying them to appointments be vigilant about staying home if they fall into any of these categories:
- Those experiencing any cold or flu-like symptoms, such as sore throat, coughing and sneezing, body aches, fever of more than 100 degrees, along with anything more serious, such as shortness of breath
- Those who have traveled internationally recently, including to countries who are also experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks
- Those who think they may have come in contact with anyone experiencing symptoms of illness, whether they be COVID-19, seasonal influenza, or any other highly contagious disease.
We urge you to call our clinic to reschedule if any of the above apply to you. The ENTSC staff will gladly help you reschedule your appointment.
By working together, we can do our part to limit the exposure of contagious illnesses like COVID-19. Thank you for entrusting ENSTC with your care!
—Ear, Nose, & Throat Specialty Care