Unorthodoc

Unorthodoc and Coronavirus (COVID-19)

“Wash your hands and open your hearts.”

OUR OFFICE IS STILL OPEN AT UNORTHODOC, providing safe, sane, accessible health care through the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond. We are even enrolling new members* and families if your health care hasn’t been what you would have liked during this crisis.

*We can currently only accommodate new members under the age of 50 – scroll to the bottom of this page for explanation.

To our established members, you may not have realized just how smart you were to join Unorthodoc until now. We’re working through this crisis alongside you with the ability to do virtual, HIPPA-compliant phone or video visits through Spruce since we opened. We are intentionally moving our routine appointments into the future if possible, but we are taking that day by day.

What we are doing to protect you (and ourselves), whether you are new or established: Unorthodoc has been set up to do remote visits for 5 years. Currently, we are in the physical office a few times a week to do the things we can’t do remotely. Many of those visits can still be done from the car. When we must bring people into the office, we bring in only one person/family at a time and decontaminate our surfaces after each patient. We meet you in the parking lot and escort you in, so you do not have to touch door handles, etc. We’ve taken up all the toys, books and magazines in the office. We’ve installed a portable sink in the exam room for your comfort and so you can also see us wash our hands before and after exams, as well. We have N-95 masks and face shields for ourselves (the beauty of being small). We don’t have enough disposable gowns (small means limited storage space). However, thanks to seeing patients in our parking lot during 3 consecutive days of rain, we discovered that waterproof raincoats can be decontaminated and re-used after each visit, sparing those supplies for our hospital colleagues.

UPDATE on NC COVID symptoms, testing, and recommendations: The CDC is now recommending against COVID testing for all but those whose symptoms are severe enough to warrant hospitalization. The NC state-wide “stay-at-home” order is essentially quarantining us all. If you have symptoms of ANY infectious illness, even including cough and fever, stay home, isolate yourself from your family members who are not sick, and rest. Of the 15,000 plus COVID tests done in the state up to March 27, 2020, only roughly 5% were positive. That means 95% of the people who presented for testing with cough and/or fever were sick with something else like flu, adenovirus, metapneumovirus, rhinovirus, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). We’ve also been seeing strep, mono, and run-away allergies! If you are sick, presume you are infectious with something that is unlikely to be coronavirus, but will still scare everyone as much as if it were coronavirus. Contact us or your  own doctor if you have any questions or concerns.

EMERGENCY warning signs for COVID-19:

Seek medical attention immediately if you or your housemates has*:

• Trouble breathing
• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• New confusion or inability to arouse
• Bluish lips or face

*This list is not all inclusive. Please consult your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning.

Mainstay Advice: Stay home (with certain exceptions), wash your hands frequently, and keep them away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. When soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer that is at least 62% alcohol in all instances where you would otherwise need to wash your hands.

Stay Informed:

Patient Information From “Up To Date”

North Carolina Health Department

World Health Organization

Centers For Disease Control

UNC has set up testing sites at the Ambulatory Care Center on Mason Farm Road in Chapel Hill BUT they are not taking “drop-ins.” You MUST call the UNC COVID-19 Helpline at 1-888-850-2684 first and go through their screening process. Then THEY refer you to the testing clinic if the likelihood is high. Be prepared for a wait on the line but they are answering. We have the capability to test at the office, but LabCorp’s reporting time is days longer than that of UNC.

Can my medicines make me sicker?  There has been some concern that certain classes of drugs may make it easier for coronavirus spread quickly inside your body –

• Thiazolidinediones anti-diabetic drugs (Actos, Avandia or generics ending in “-izone,” but NOT METFORMIN OR OTHER ANTI-DIABETIC MEDS),
• ACE-based anti-hypertensives (anything that ends in “-pril” or “-sartan” BUT NOT OTHER HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINES), and
• Ibuprofen (and possibly other NSAIDS, NOT Tylenol/acetaminophen): The WHO has stepped back from an earlier suggestion to avoid ibuprofen.

The potential problems with the other drugs have NOT been proven.  Therefore, I am recommending that our patients continue these important and sometimes life-saving medications until further notice. Keep your eyes open to see if this changes in the future or if new medications hit this list. Regardless, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IS AVOID BEING EXPOSED TO COVID-19 in the first place. Refer to “Mainstay Advice” above.