Gianna Family Care

 Dear Gianna Family Care Members and Friends, 

 WE ARE REMAINING OPEN: 

While this is a time of great uncertainty for each of us, our families, our community, and our world as we watch the global impact of the Coronavirus unfold and attempt to curb it here at home, please know we at Gianna Family Care are watching the situation closely and will remain focused on providing care for you while protecting the safety and health of all of our members. 

Although the Kansas City Metro area will be mandating a “Stay at Home” order starting today, on Tuesday, March 24, Gianna Family Care will remain open, since, as a health care facility, we are classified as essential.  We will continue to be committed to serving each of our members now, in the face of this uncertainty, and always.  

 THE BASICS: 

We want to give you some facts about the Coronavirus and Covid-19:   

  • The Coronavirus is a novel (new) virus never identified before, but related to other Coronaviruses, including the common cold and SARS.   

  • It causes an illness named Covid-19.   

  • There is a wide range in severity of symptoms noted from mild illness to severe respiratory distress requiring assisted ventilation and, sometimes, causing death. 

  • Patients who are at risk for severe illness are the elderly and those with chronic illness (immunocompromised, diabetics, those with heart disease, and those with chronic lung disease).   

  • The novel Coronavirus is frequently being compared to Influenza for perspective, so here are some comparisons:  

  • The transmission rate of Coronavirus seems to be less than Influenza  

  • Influenza: 15-30% of household contacts contract Influenza when one member has been infected  

  • Coronavirus: 3-10% of household contacts (and 1-2% of non-household contacts) contract Coronavirus 

  • While the transmission of Coronavirus seems to be less than Influenza, the mortality rate of Coronavirus is higher  

  • Influenza: 0.1% of infected people 

  • Coronavirus: 0.8% of infected people   

  • There are typically 30 million Americans who contract Influenza annually with several thousand hospitalizations per year and 35,000 deaths in the United States per year.  To date, there are 46,168 Americans who have contracted Coronavirus with 582 deaths.  Worldwide, there have been 392,440 total cases of Coronavirus with 17,149 deaths with a larger proportion of deaths in people over age 65 or with chronic illnesses. 

  • In the worst case scenario, only 15-20% of patients who contract the novel Coronavirus will require hospitalization and 5% will require care in an ICU. 

 COULD YOU HAVE OR SPREAD CORONAVIRUS?: 

Symptoms include fever over 100.5, a dry cough, and shortness of breath.  If you have these symptoms, please contact us at 913-890-2555 or info@giannafamilycare.com.  Transmission seems to be from large respiratory droplets that can land 2-3 feet away when coughing and sneezing.  The infected droplets can enter into the nose or mouth of another and cause that person to be infected. To prevent transmission, it is important to cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or to cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow (not with your hands), stay at least 6 feet away from others if you are ill, wash your hands before and after you touch your face, and clean surfaces that are frequently touched (door knobs, faucets, light switches, keyboards). 

 WHAT IS GIANNA FAMILY CARE DOING TO HELP KEEP YOU SAFE AND HEALTHY?: 

  • We are asking that, if you are ill with fever or cough, you, first of all, stay home and then contact us at 913-890-2555 or at info@giannafamilycare.com or contact your provider directly.   

  • When possible, we will take care of you remotely via phone, text, or e-mail to limit your contact with healthy people.   

  • If it is decided that you need to be evaluated in person, we will ask you to make an appointment.  Instead of coming into Gianna Family Care and waiting in the waiting room, we will ask you to wait in your car and text or call us to notify us of your arrival.  We will meet you at your car and ask you to wear a face mask while we escort you to an exam room.   

  • As always, we will be disinfecting surfaces in the waiting room and exam rooms between patients.   

  • Currently, testing for the Coronavirus is not available to the general public, but only for those hospitalized or for health care workers, so, if you develop symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath, we will assume you have Covid-19 and ask that you treat the symptoms with Tylenol and bronchodilator inhalers at home and remain quarantined at home for 14 days.  If your symptoms progress to include worsening shortness of breath (not relieved with inhalers) or unrelenting fever, we will ask you to contact us, and we will likely refer you to a local ER for testing and for possible hospitalization.   

 WHAT SHOULD BE OUR BIGGEST CONCERN AT THE MOMENT: 

Currently, the biggest concern we have is the very real possibility of overloading the healthcare system.  If 4% of our population requires hospitalization all at once over the next 2 weeks, our hospitals will not have the capacity to care for those patients.  On the other hand, if 4% of our population requires hospitalization little by little over the next couple of months, we should have the resources to care for those patients in a consecutive stream.  This means we should act in solidarity and practice "social distancing" and minimizing congregating to slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus. 

 

MORE RESOURCES: 

For further up-to-date information on the current Coronavirus outbreak, here are some helpful links: 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/  

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html  

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019  

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china  

THE BIG PICTURE: 

We understand it is easy to get caught up in the frantic frenzy, panic, anxiety, and hoarding that seem to be all around us.  It is important, in these times, to turn to those things that are most important to us.  First and foremost, it is important to remember to trust in God, as He remains in control.  It is also important to value time with your family and conversations with your friends and loved ones.  C.S. Lewis' words regarding living with the fear of an atomic bomb attack in the 1940's seem relevant today: "If we are all going to be destroyed by (a disease), let that (disease) find us doing sensible and human things-praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends...-not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about (disease).  (It) may break our bodies but (it) need not dominate our minds."  ("On Living in an Atomic Age," C.S. Lewis, 1948).  

Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at 913-890-2555 or info@giannafamilycare.com with specific or personal concerns. 

Blessings, 
Dr. Pritchett, Dr. Bauer, Kressa, Janelle, and Stacy