COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Update: May 31, 2020

In order to protect our most vulnerable patients & team members, masks are now required for patients 2 or older, and their family members. Additionally, we allow one parent per child at the visit. Thank you for helping us keep our communities safe!

Update: April 28, 2020

We are so excited to announce the return of well care to our Apex office.  

Dear Favorite Patients:

For the past several weeks we at Cary, Fuquay-Varina, and Apex Pediatrics have been remaining flexible during the ongoing pandemic. We have been trying to anticipate the needs of our patients and our community in remaining open, available for checkups, concern visits, or telehealth visits. When this all began, we were pleased to have the flexibility of making one of ours an office where we saw patients with coughs and fevers, while keeping the remaining offices for well-care only. This has been helpful, but has also meant that hundreds of our patients in our Apex office have had to have their visits cancelled or moved to other offices.

As time has passed, and we have seen a dramatic drop in the number of truly sick patients in our office, we will be changing how we see patients in Apex. Those of you who go to Apex as your medical home know that our space there is like two distinct medical offices connected together with hallways. We have a lot of space there, with few connections between them. This weekend after our Saturday sick office is closed, we will be having industry professionals install hospital grade plastic between our “new” half, and our “old” half in Apex. Our entire office will be extensively and professionally cleaned.

The partition with plastic will create a full hallway in Apex on the “old” side with its own entrance, bathroom, multiple exam rooms, and a dedicated provider and nurse who will staff there all day long. Patients needing to be seen here will not be in any waiting room, and will be brought in directly from their car to an exam room by staff wearing masks. We would respectfully request you also wear masks if possible when you come in for your visit, and bring a minimal number of people with you. Once your visit is done, you will leave directly to your car.

On our “new” side, we will resume care as we have previously, with Dr. Steele, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Bowman, and our wonderful nurse practitioners Shana Bailey and Ali Groesser. This space will remain our checkup area, without sharing of staff or patients each day. It is our hope that by doing this, parents will remain confident that they can bring their children in to any of our offices for checkups, their yearly screenings, immunizations, and relationship building that we value as your medical home.

We also added some additional resources related to caring for your children during COVID-19. There is important information on emergency numbers, locations where children can get free meals, and opportunities to help others through this tough time. You can always visit our A-Z Guide  for loads of other resources including how to apply for Medicaid and Nutrition Services.

Update: March 20, 2020

Your doctors and nurse practitioners at Cary/Fuquay/Apex Pediatrics are here for you, not only for medical care, but as a source of reliable and sane information. We suggest you look at COVID-19 information from two perspectives.

1. Personal Safety: the vast majority of people infected by COVID-19 will have mild illness, especially children.
2. Community Responsibility: the CDC and Health Department are trying to limit spread, or at least slow it down.  Self-quarantine, containment areas, and social distancing are being implemented for these purposes.

The best way to stay healthy is by practicing good hand washing, remembering not to touch your face, and staying away from large gatherings. Take advantage of the nicer weather and get outdoors. If you or any one in your family is sick, stay home.  When needed, cough into your elbow.  If your child is sick, please call us.

Important Office Changes

For the time being, our Apex office will be seeing all the patients that are sick with fever or respiratory symptoms like cough.  If you child has one of these complaints, then you will be asked to be seen in the Apex office.  This will allow us to have both the Fuquay-Varina and Cary office to see our well patients.

If you child has a rash or other non-respiratory complaints, then they will be seen in Fuquay-Varina or Cary. We very much want to protect the children of our community, while at the same time allow us to provide care for those who are sick. We ask you to please not come to our Fuquay-Varina or Cary offices if you are sick or bring along siblings who may be sick.

We ask for understanding and patience as there may be some last minute cancelation of your children’s appointments so that we can continue to provide the very best and safest care to all of our patients.  We encourage you to keep your scheduled well care appointments. Children still need to get physicals and the vaccines that protect them from illnesses much more serious than coronavirus.  All of our offices have implemented procedures to keep you safe. We are following appropriate CDC recommendations. We are cleaning intensely and often.

For Your Safety

We are here for you, our community, just as we have been since 1976, and we will continue to be here for you when this pandemic is over. Our providers and staff are taking this very seriously and will continue to be vigilant for our precious families.

So what exactly are we doing?

SCREENING

We are screening extensively for COVID-19 symptoms prior to scheduling our patients.

MONITORING OUR TEAM

We are monitoring our staff daily, recording temperatures, and identifying potential symptoms.

SEPARATING SICK & WELL VISITS

Our Cary and Fuquay-Varina offices are designated as our “well” offices. This protection for our patients is key and helps provide a safer zone. NO ONE WITH COUGH OR FEVER IS ALLOWED IN THE DOORS. If you have these symptoms, you will be directed to our Apex location.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Beginning this week, all employees who have direct contact with patients in our well offices will be wearing a mask. This is to protect us from potential asymptomatic carriers. You may want prepare your younger children for this. For our sick office in Apex, you will see us in full PPE. Thank you to the many wonderful people and businesses who have donated PPE.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

We are practicing social distancing so that no family should be within six feet of another family. We are also requesting that only one caregiver accompany their child to visits. The only exception to this is for our newborn and two-week-old visits.

TELEHEALTH

We are excited to now be offering telehealth. If you have a concern that you feel can be handled virtually, we are more than happy to schedule that for you. Examples may include: medication checks, rashes, behavior concerns, quarantined families, etc. Our nurses are ready to help make that decision daily with you.

KEEPING YOU INFORMED

We are constantly updating our website with the latest information, sending out email newsletters like this, and posting on our social media sites. (If you don’t already follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you should!)

In short, stay home, stay safe, and if you do need to see us, we are here for you!

Resources

In the lists below you will find our recommendations for accurate and helpful resources.

What else can you do? Shut off the TV and give yourself and your children a break. When possible, keep their schedules normal. If your district is open, send them to school. Look for anxiety symptoms – such as moodiness, trouble sleeping and separation anxiety.  Talk to your children about their fears. Reassure them. If you or your kids are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, consider looking at this simple but helpful tool from ImaginAction.