Mar 24, 2020

Eyecare centers in Great Bend & Russell temporarily close; still available for emergency cases

Posted Mar 24, 2020 11:00 PM

From The 10th Street Eyecare Center & Russell Eyecare Center...

To our valued patients,

As promised in our last procedure update, we are committed to keeping our patients informed on our plans to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Starting Wednesday, March 25th and until further notice, in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, we will be contacting patients to reschedule all non-emergency appointments. Our offices will be closed to the general public to adhere to these recommendations, including our optical departments. This decision was not made lightly, but takes into the consideration the safety and welfare of our patients, staff, doctors, and the community at large.

We will continue to provide vision-saving treatment for our patients with urgent medical issues. Each office will be staffed with at least one doctor and a few support staff to handle emergency cases that may arise, including but not limited to:

· Sudden loss of vision or decrease in vision

· Flashes and/or floaters

· Red eye or painful eye

· Injury or trauma

· Broken or lost glasses without a back-up pair

Great Bend’s office will be staffed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to deal with such emergencies. Russell’s office will be open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be no evening or weekend hours available until further notice. If you have any questions concerning medication refills or ordering contact lenses, we will have staff available over the phone. We can be reached at 620-792-2020 (Great Bend) or 785-483-2451 (Russell). Contact lenses can be mailed to patients that need them urgently.

Outside of these hours, we also have a strong partnership with a 24/7 answering service that can take evening and weekend messages and relay those to our medical staff as needed. Both optical departments will remain closed during this time, and any glasses ordered prior to March 24th will be available for pick-up once the office re-opens to the public.

We value the care and safety of all our patients and staff, and thank you for your understanding during this challenging time. These actions will also help preserve personal protective equipment and patient care supplies. As new information develops, we will continue to monitor the situation and will re-open to the public as soon as it is safe to do so. If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Doctors and Staff of The 10th Street Eyecare Center and Russell Eyecare Center