Why our washroom is still closed
Trust me, we hate having to remind patients to use their own washroom facilities at home or work before arriving as well. We’ve certainly had some protests to our policy, but once we explain the situation, our patients have been very understanding.
The short answer is…COVID. I think we can agree that most people are living in parallel universes when it comes to the global pandemic that has ruined many lives for two years and counting. As much as our social lives have opened up, with masks and vaccine mandates as mere blips in our collective memory, the expectation for healthcare remains safety first. In a field where virtual care is impossible, the onus lies heavily on my shoulders to “do the right thing”.
Our patient base is proof enough that the pandemic is not over. Cancellations due to COVID still plague us weekly, if not daily around the high risk holiday periods. Among our medically compromised patient population, we continue to receive requests for the most stringent precautions to be applied. Firsthand accounts of long COVID struggles have also been cautionary tales for us not to let our guards down. When we are entrusted to continue to keep our patients safe in an aerosol-generating environment of an infectious airborne virus, it only makes sense for us to maintain the highest level of safety. Here at Leslieville Dentistry, we aim for the most equitable outcome, and are happy to leave the bare minimum of standards in our dust. I know our patients appreciate the extra steps, because they have told me so.
Why the washroom restriction? Because our surgical gowns need a place to be housed. As a team, we go through many gowns a day, and we need the physical space to store and change from one gown to the next upwards of thirty times a day. Space is at a premium in our boutique-sized clinic, and the only space in the office large enough to allow us to do what we need to do is the washroom. When our patients to use the washroom, we have to protect our clean gowns from being spoiled, and disinfect the washroom anew each time before we can continue with our routine. Unfettered access to our washroom would severely hamper (pun not intended) our ability to stay on time or maintain cleanliness of our space and gowns. We want our patients to know that the only aerosol droplets on our gowns when they have their mouths and noses uncovered are their own, and the sacrifice of washroom access in the absence of an emergency is not undue hardship once they realize our reasoning behind the policy.
With all that said, if you need to go, please just ask!
