During the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, the People’s Health Clinic was treating almost all of their patients remotely.
The situation is changing. But Clinic Director Beth Armstrong says that from now on, tele-medicine will likely always be a part of their toolbox.
Armstrong said that some weeks ago, they were treating nearly 90 percent of their patients on tele-health calls.
“Of course, we still had to see our pre-natal patients. And we also had to prioritize the in-person Newborn care and Newborn Well visit.”
She said the clinic now sees about 50 percent of their patients online. For many patients, it’s an improvement because it saves them time.
Meanwhile, the Clinic is working on vaccinations for children up to 24 months. Armstrong said it’s a big deal that the state designated them as a “VFC” site, or ‘Vaccinations For Children.” They’re taking over the activity from the County Health Department.
“And it’s actually less of a barrier to care, because in the past we would have these parents come in that, the kids would have their visits and then we would have to refer them over for immunization. And now it’ll be all one-stop shopping at the clinic. (Leslie) So does the funding come with that as well? (Armstrong) The vaccinations are discounted to us. We don’t get paid for doing the vaccine, because as you know, we don’t do any billing at our clinic. So there would be no Medicaid funding for that. But the vaccinations do come to us at a much-reduced cost.”
Beth Armstrong, from the People’s Health Clinic.
