Wayne Memorial Community Health Center (WMCHC) patients who need to visit a healthcare provider for a chronic or acute issue now have a telehealth option, a visit via phone or video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our responsibility not only to treat individuals with COVID-19, but also to help maintain the overall health and wellbeing of all patients under our care,\u201d stated Frederick Jackson, executive director. \u201cWhile our medical offices remain open, we are pleased to be able to offer a telehealth visit for applicable situations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WMCHC operates primary care offices in Honesdale, Waymart, Carbondale, Hamlin, Tafton, Lake Como, Forest City and Lords Valley. It also has pediatric offices in Sterling, as well as Honesdale and Waymart, and women\u2019s health services in Honesdale, Carbondale and Lords Valley. All offices offer telehealth services. Patients are asked to call ahead to discuss telemedicine alternatives for their particular case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WMCHC\u2019s Behavioral Health office in Honesdale also offers telehealth but on a limited basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
James Cruse, MD, medical director, WMCHC explained \u201cthere are a variety of connectivity options for patients. During the crisis, phone-only visits, without video, are allowable based on a patient\u2019s insurance. Medicare visits require videoconferencing. However, the majority of private insurances and Medicaid do not.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patient issues appropriate for telemedicine include follow ups for chronic problems, such as reviewing lab reports for diabetes or high cholesterol, and even blood pressure follow ups if the patient can check their blood pressure at home. \u201cMany new complaints such as colds and coughs, rashes, headaches and joint pain can also be done via video,\u201d said Dr. Cruse, \u201cbut if the provider feels the patient needs to be seen in-person after a tele-appointment, he or she will be asked to come in\u2014sometimes as quickly as the same day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Cruse said health concerns requiring a physical exam such as ear pain, acute abdominal pain, shortness of breath, chest pain, and joint sprains or injuries will be seen at the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In-office visits are still being routinely scheduled, although patients are now screened for possible COVID-19 exposure. Patients who do come to the office in person will be required to wear a mask upon arrival. Only the patient will be allowed in the office with some exceptions made for individuals who need special assistance such as the elderly, children or those with a mobility issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reiterating that all WMCHC medical offices are open for business\u2014WMCHC dental services in Honesdale and Lords Valley are open only for emergencies\u2013 Jackson commended the staff. \u201cThey really are front-liners and are to be appreciated. In some cases, they are risking their own health to take care of others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WMCHC is a federally qualified health center clinically affiliated with Wayne Memorial Health System, Inc. For more information and office locations, visit wmchc.net<\/a> or call 570-253-8390.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo: James Cruse, MD, a family physician at Honesdale Family Health Center, is shown conducting a video telehealth visit. All WMCHC offices are offering some form of telehealth as an option during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria Diehl Wayne Memorial Hospital Public Relations Specialist 601 Park Street Honesdale, PA 18431 Phone (570) 253-8390 Fax (570) 253-8993 diehlma@wmh.org<\/a> www.wmh.org<\/a> Like us on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wayne Memorial Community Health Center (WMCHC) patients who need to visit a healthcare provider for a chronic or acute issue now have a telehealth option,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid-19","category-health","category-slider"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":937,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions\/937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}