Regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and our medical practice:
As a protective effort for our patients, we here at Southwest Cardiovascular Associates/Aloha Cardiology have been continuously assessing the current issues surrounding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its effects on the community. We care deeply about the safety, health, and continued well-being of our patients. In light of the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have enacted aggressive practice policies to protect our patients and staff from contracting the virus. We screen every patient who enters our practice or procedural center and evaluate for any signs or symptoms that might suggest infection in a patient, such as fevers, runny nose, chest ache or pressure, headache, difficulty breathing, cough, or congestion, which are the primary symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19) . Any patients we find that have any of the symptoms, or suggest they may have them, would be sent to the hospital ER immediately. To date, we have not had any patients with such symptoms enter our practice.
We wish to assure our patients that we are taking every precaution in ensuring the safety of our patients as they enter our practice and will continue to do so for the next several months until further notice from the American Centers for Disease Control.
Elderly patients, patients with difficulty breathing or pneumonia, those with underlying heart or lung disease and patients with compromised immune systems (including those on immune suppressing medications) may be at greatest risk for contracting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) . The illness presentation is variable and may potentially involve cold or flu like symptoms, diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, chills, fever, muscle aches and/or pneumonia. Any patient with any of these symptoms should refrain from coming to the SWCVA or Aloha offices or going out in public, and to self-isolate, in order to minimize the risk of transmission to other patients and our staff.
We appreciate the cooperation we are getting from our staff and patients and we hope that our collective efforts will help to limit the spread of this virus and keep our patients safe and secure for engaging with us in receiving our medical services.
Dr Charles Jost and
the SWCVA/Aloha doctors & Staff