2023 Update: You NO LONGER need to wear masks. If you’d like to, you may. We are leaving our original message on our website for posterity. The guidelines below no longer need to be followed.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry is returning to limited service starting Friday May 1, 2020. We are encouraging social distancing guidelines as well as use of face masks by our patients.
Here are the list of practices we have implemented to ensure we provide a safe environment above and beyond our already strict protocols for patient health and safety.
1) We ask that all patients who are experiencing signs and symptoms of COVID-19 defer their comprehensive eye exam. If you are experiencing an eye emergency that you feel threatens your vision while also experiencing signs and symptoms of COVID-19, we recommend you admit yourself to a hospital emergency room whereby your systemic condition can be monitored alongside your ocular health condition.
2) Patients are encouraged to arrive alone if possible and limit guests to essential guests such as translators or caretakers. Guardians of children are of course welcome but siblings of the patient are not permitted.
3) Exam appointment slots have been extended to one hour and a maximum of only 4 exams will be performed per day. This will allow for proper disinfection of the exam room and eyewear in between patients. Families will be seen consecutively of course but the limit on exams per day will remain at a maximum of 4.
4) We have always offered free contact lens shipping to your door with the purchase of a minimum of two boxes. We encourage you to pick this option. Also, you may purchase contact lenses online and free shipping is offered online with the use of coupon codes listed on each brand’s page. Visit www.morganhilleyecare.com to purchase contact lenses.
5) Exam rooms, glasses, and our entire facility will be disinfected by UV-C light on a rotating basis. We only have one light and will be moving our light every night.
6) Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry will continue to use our strict cleaning protocol we have always used in between patients including wiping equipment that comes into contact with patients with alcohol. We will add additional protocols such as the use of Lysol disinfecting wipes to the chair and armrests. Our optometrist will also be wearing a mask that will be disinfected by UV-C light every night. The masks will be discarded every two weeks. We will no longer be using a standard pupillometer and have opted for infrared pupil distance measurements.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry was started as a result of Dr. Nguyen being unhappy working at offices that did not always care for patients the way patients deserved to be treated. From the beginning, we took public health seriously. We never installed a single piece of carpeting (except for a rug to prevent our chairs from sliding on our smooth floors), we used paints that are non-toxic and do NOT absorb water. We kept our walls untextured to prevent dust from collecting. We have added a touchless pupillometer using infrared technology that is incredibly accurate so as to obviate the need to get super close and personal when measuring pupil distances. And instead of dilation and BIO, we encourage patients to opt for undilated retinal photos performed by our camera instead of a human getting super close and personal.
There’s a reason why our patients love us. We have always put you first and foremost in our thoughts. We hope it always shows.
We understand these are trying times. We hope this time in human history passes soon and we can return to a time where we don’t need to wear masks and we can invite your entire family to our office without the need for social distancing. When that time comes, we suspect we will remove some of the barriers that are cumbersome. But we also suspect that some technologies and behaviors will be here to stay. It is challenges like these that exposes and puts center stage our behaviors and notions of normal under a microscope’s scrutiny. We have always believed in a carpet-less office. And for the short time we have experienced it, the infrared pupillometer is a thing of marvel. We expect that to stay. Without this current challenge, we would have never discovered the infrared pupillometer.
We hope that during this short period of Sheltering In Place, you too have had poignant moments of inner peace and reflection and hope to have discovered new-found traditions you wish to stay. Whether it is cooking at home with your family more or enjoying the sunset with your children or simply experiencing time slow down, we hope that you have had some chances at experiencing the beauty among all the dread. Like Us, we hope you too, have changed as a result of this ordeal.
We ask that you be patient with us and allow us to provide the awesome eye care you deserve in this new era.
Sincerely, Dr. Son Nguyen.