Coronavirus Update

To Our Patients: Update on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

What a very different world we have just in the past week. We understand how stressful this is- emotionally, medically, and financially. I am reaching out to communicate with you and the rest of our patients to hopefully help guide you as best I can. Through television, radio, internet news, and social media, we are bombarded with information every minute, and it is difficult to know what information is accurate. As a doctor with a background in scientific research, I believe in making decisions based on known or proven facts, not on hunches or conjecture. When it comes to your health, PLEASE consider the source of your information. For instance, you may have heard recently about a particular actor with a large social media following alleging he had a cure for the coronavirus. Or you may have heard that a particularly well-known professional baseball player was consulted on how to handle the pandemic. If I want to be entertained, or want to improve my batting average, I would consult with those people. If I have concerns about what medication to put into my body, or how to improve a worldwide public health crisis, I would prefer consulting with someone who has devoted their life to researching those topics.

That being said, I would encourage using the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website (www.cdc.gov) as your main source for information. It is straightforward, science-based unbiased advice regarding this particular strain of coronavirus, COVID-19

To further assist you, we are adjusting our office policy. We are keeping the office open for your health needs, but we are restricted from scheduling certain surgeries at the Paoli Surgery Center and Main Line Health Hospitals (injuries/fractures, and cancer cases are permitted) to help conserve limited resources, and limit your unnecessary exposure unknowingly to the virus. In our office, we are wearing masks, pre-screening patients, measuring temperatures on everyone (including staff), further spacing appointments, having patients wait in their cars to reduce proximity, and arranging telemedicine (video appointments) when possible. Of course, we continue to disinfect our exam rooms between every patient, much as we always have been doing. We may not be able to immediately answer your phone call, but we will return your calls.

Sorry for such a long message, but I needed to share all of this with you. Please be smart and stay safe!

Christopher Hove, MD