Carleton FINALLY got his second shot two weeks ago after a series of unfortunate events that delayed it, including the snowstorm and his designated vaccine site running out of doses for healthcare workers. He is now fully vaccinated and we are so happy for him!
We have had a few questions at the clinic and over the phone about what life looks like after the vaccine. We are sure everyone has heard the recommendations that folks that have had the vaccine continue to mask up and limit their contact with others and that is what we will do at the clinic. Regardless of your vaccine status, doctors offices and other healthcare setting will likely require masks into the FAR (at least a year or more) future and we will as well. This is to protect YOU since Carleton sees so many patients per day as well as to protect anyone in your family or our family that cannot yet receive the vaccine.
It is important to remember that the vaccines are VERY safe and VERY effective and we would recommend everyone who CAN get the vaccine gets whichever type is offered to them as soon as possible, but we acknowledge that no vaccine is 100% effective and we know that not all of our patient population is eligible for the vaccine yet. That means we will continue to utilize all of our mitigation protocols (see list below) and we will expect all of our patients to follow them to protect themselves as well as us, so we can stay open and continue to help you be pain free and achieve your health goals.
We are grateful that our patients have done such an amazing job staying safe and healthy this past year.
Thank you so much for your support. Hang in there!
Brighter days are around the corner for us all.
Like many of you, there will be less faces around the table today at our house as we limit the size of our gathering to keep everyone safe, but our hearts are probably more full than they have ever been. Most folks don’t think of independent health clinics like ours as a small business in the same way they may think of a local restaurant or bookshop, but many of us ARE small family owned micro-businesses built from the ground up, and started years ago with a dream of helping people.
For us, as well as SO many others, this year has been the most challenging time we have ever faced while running our clinic for the past 13 years (that not-so-little guy with glasses was a tiny baby when we opened). As he has always been- Carleton is the “face” and heart of the clinic. This year, Dr. Katja Magus is at home supervising remote learning and managing the office and handling the phone. Now that they are older, our kids all help run Alpine Acupuncture behind the scenes. We have help with ironing, laundry, shredding, mailing, stamping and all of them join us in deep cleaning the office regularly, it truly is a family affair.
Thanks to each of you, we are still here at the end (almost!) of 2020, the craziest year ever. We are grateful for you every time we see you in the clinic, every time you write a review for us, or “like” a Facebook post or mention us to your friends or book an appointment for a family member. In each moment, you are making a difference for our family and helping to ensure that we will be here to help you for many years to come.
We have carefully reviewed the new restrictions put in place for Washington state and at this time we will continue to be OPEN to see healthy patients as we have been for the last few months, with all of our additional COVID safety measures (see below) in place. If your plans have changed or you are sheltering at home, we understand, and we ask that you give the customary 24 hrs advance notice if you need to change or cancel your appointment. If you have any questions about that or anything else, feel free to give us a call on the office line: 425-391-7777
Stay well!
-Alpine Acupuncture
If you recognize these little boxes, you will be happy to know we finally have PLENTY (a whole castle!) We’ve been waiting almost two years to restock the clinic shelves with this special order Curing Pill that so many of you know and love. Curing pill is a lovely traditional Chinese Medicine remedy that is as essential part of every natural first aid kit. It is used for stomach and digestive complaints such as overeating, having too much heavy food, food poisoning and lots of other common issues. Each red box ($5.50) comes with ten tiny sealed vials inside and each vial has one serving of tiny pills (like the size of a rice grain) for an adult, so they are easy to put in your purse/glove box/first aid kit for everyday use and for travel. It can be used for kids with tummy aches too, mixed into applesauce or yogurt if they can’t swallow pills yet. If you need to restock, let us know at your next appointment or give us a call and we will set some aside for you.
And as always, we are happy to answer any questions you may have!
We are very excited to announce that yesterday, Governor Inslee gave the okay for health care offices to immediately begin seeing non-urgent cases, as well as opening up dental cleanings, orthodontic visits and routine patient care in offices such as ours. Here is a link to the announcement. We have made additional changes to our procedures based on the new information presented yesterday, including taking your temperature before the appointment and running down a checklist of possible COVID symptoms with each patient before they are seen. We ask that you wear a mask to your visit and please arrive on time rather than early and only bring a family member if needed, to minimize the amount of patients in our small waiting area. Other precautions that we are taking that were added previously can be found below and as always you are also welcome to call or email if you have any questions or concerns about these.
We look forward to welcoming you back to our clinic safely, starting today, to help you with any health issues you may have: headaches, aches, pain, anxiety, hormones, allergies and many more. Remember that most health care plans cover acupuncture!
Stay healthy- With love from Alpine Acupuncture
Alpine Acupuncture Clinic Safety Modifications
Carleton continues to see patients who are feeling healthy on Monday-Thursday with slightly modified hours depending on the week. Our online schedule is always up-to-date and accurate.
Below is a list of steps that we have taken to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while continuing to promote the health and well-being of our patients.
1. We ask that if you are feeling sick that you notify us to reschedule
2. Carleton is wearing a fabric mask daily in accordance with the new recommendations from the CDC and patients need to wear one as well- please choose a reusable/fabric one to free up the disposable ones for our front line health care workers.
3. Carleton will be taking your temperature and asking you about any COVID risks at each visit
4. We are disinfecting all tables, chairs, doors, counter tops and credit card machines multiple times per day.
5. We are washing our hands during and in between patient visits.
6. We are propping our front door open during business hours to decrease common touch contacts.
7. We are asking all patients to wash their hands before entering the office.
8. We are having patients go right into their treatment room top minimize waiting room contact (please try to arrive right on time rather than early- normally we love to chat in the waiting room but these are special times!)
9. Please only bring family members if you need their assistance for driving or during the visit.
9. If you are higher risk and need an appointment slot when other patients will not be in the clinic to reduce your exposure, please call and request that, we are happy to help. We are already spacing out ALL appointments to minimize contact.
We believe that with these action steps we can play a vital role in helping our patients to continue to improve their health while simultaneously preventing the spread of COVID-19.
We are here and ready to serve you and our community.
