A Message from Dr. Tai

COVID-19

We are aware that the presence or suspicion of underlying coronary artery disease or vascular disease can create additional anxiety in these stressful times. As always, we will strive to provide the most appropriate care in a timely manner.

However, as a result of the current health crisis involving COVID-19, both hospitals (AdventHealth Heart of Florida and Winter Haven Hospital) we currently practice at have asked us (as well as all other physicians) to postpone elective procedures until April 30th. This is in part to conserve resources for those that may need it in the coming weeks.

Please know that we will still be conducting diagnostic
testing in our office. We are also still performing some medically necessary procedures in our office based catheterization lab if criteria issued by CMS and the Governor’s Office are met. Then, if still medically necessary, we will initiate guideline directed therapy. Thereafter, if a patient continues to have progressive symptoms or fails to respond to therapy, we are justified in risk stratifying you as urgent patient and proceeding with a hospital based procedure.

We’re open.

Your safety is our first priority. Our office staff is taking every precaution to sanitize the office, screen patients for any potential symptoms, and maximize awareness about how to protect yourself from the coronavirus. We are making changes to the office schedule as we learn more about the impact it’s having by limiting the number of cases and tests performed each day. We are minimizing patient exposure to other people, as well as the number of patients in the office on a daily basis. We are still performing certain medically necessary procedures in the office. If you have a procedure scheduled with us, please call the office to find out if your procedure will need to be rescheduled.

If you meet any of the following criteria, please do not attempt to come to the office.
Call us to reschedule your appointment or connect with us via telehealth:

1. Have you had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19?

2. Have you recently traveled out of the country?

3. Do you have flu-like symptoms, including fever (greater than 100.4F), cough, sneezing, or shortness of breath?
   
   Updates
   March 23rd, 2020: We are evaluating our options to care for you daily. At this time, we are adjusting our office schedule to reduce the number of patients in our waiting room at any given time and on any given day. Accordingly, you may receive a call requesting that the date or time of your appointment be changed. If you do not receive such a call, your appointment has not been changed, and we look forward to seeing you at your originally scheduled date and time.

Enroll in TeleHealth

We are offering telehealth solutions to all of our patients at this time. That means - if you have FaceTime, WhatsApp, or Skype - your office visit can be performed virtually until such time that we can bring you back into the office for an in-person visit.

Click here to learn how it works.