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A LETTER TO OUR PATIENTS:
The providers and staff at Richard R. Namikas, M.S., CCC-A, Inc. are committed to providing you with the highest quality audiological care. We want to let you know we are continuing to serve you and our community with some changes in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
As many of you know, this is an evolving issue with new information received daily. We want to assure you that as a health care practice we are closely monitoring directives from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Florida Department of Health, our medical societies, and other information sources. We are continuously providing information and training to our staff to ensure that all our patients receive the safest and best care possible, while keeping our staff safe and healthy.
Due to COVID-19, our office will be operating in a different manner beginning Monday March 23.
Most importantly, we are still here for you!
How to reach us:
Our phones will remain open from 9:00 – 4:00 Monday through Thursday.
You can send us a message through AudiologyofVenice.com.
Audiology:
We will have an audiologist available to you this week for hearing aid repairs and adjustments. This will be offered by curb-side service at your appointment time, so if you call us when you arrive, you don’t need to come out of your car. Our audiologist will come to your car to get your hearing aid and then bring it back to you once serviced. All non-urgent audio evaluations will be rescheduled for a later time.
This decision to move primarily to telehealth was a difficult one to make, however based on the factors below, we felt it was the most prudent decision to keep our medical staff and community safe. We MUST flatten the curve!
- The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery strongly recommends that all otolaryngologists limit providing patient care activities to those individuals with time-sensitive and emergent medical conditions. This includes both office-based and surgical care.
- The American Academy of Audiology has recommended that audiologists move to non-patient facing visits through telehealth or other means.
- It is important that members of the medical community work with the general population and regulatory agencies to minimize the risk of the COVID-19 virus transmission from human to human in order to limit the development of new cases.
- Until disposable medical supplies and protective equipment become more available, we must conserve these for use where they are needed most.
- Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 20-72, regarding non-essential elective medical procedures:
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- All hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, office surgery centers, dental, orthodontic and endodontic offices, and other health care practitioners’ offices in the State of Florida are prohibited from providing any medically unnecessary, non-urgent or non-emergency procedure or surgery which, if delayed, does not place a patient’s immediate health, safety, or well-being at risk, or will, if delayed, not contribute to the worsening of a serious or life-threatening medical condition. Accordingly, all health care practitioners licensed in the State of Florida, including dentists, shall immediately cease performing these elective services.
Please note that WE ARE STILL HERE FOR YOU! Call us or message us through the portal. We will work with you to continue to provide the best care possible in these new and uncertain times.
Remote hearing aid care
For patients with the Phonak Marvel hearing aid, we are able to offer remote programming as well. We ask that you call to schedule an appointment for this type of service with our audiologists. You will need to set up an account through the myPhonak app on your cell phone and provide us with your email contact information to provide this service.
We encourage you to keep yourself updated on information about Coronavirus by visiting the following websites:
We feel strongly about the social role we play in attempting to minimize the diffusion of potentially threatening infections and will continue to evaluate and make changes as more information develops each day.
Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home.
Sincerely,
Richard R. Namikas, Au.D. Vickie L. Adams, Au.D.
Doctor of Audiology Doctor of Audiology