COVID19 presents a challenge to America unlike any seen in our lifetimes and will likely prove to be the most formidable medical problem faced globally since the 1918 influenza epidemic. While the cost in human lives, illness, lost productivity and economic disruption is already high, the true disaster would be for us as a nation to lose sight of the cohesiveness and common purpose which has been a hallmark of American life since the turn of the 20th century.
For our current and future patients I want to focus on how we can all contribute to collectively overcome the challenges presented by COVID19. We must recognize that this virus, like any novel infection, will take time to fully characterize, understand and learn how best to treat. The advancement in knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 over the past two months is nothing short of remarkable and the effort and ingenuity shown by the medical and scientific communities is to be applauded. There will not be a perfect or risk free solution and anticipating such leads only to unrealistic expectations. Varying points of view should not only be tolerated but freely aired, discussed and used, along with clinical and epidemiologic evidence, to find the best ways to minimize illness and death from either medical or economic catastrophe.
To that end, we are spending much of our shelter-in-place time to understand all we can about this disease and learn how to restart the services our patients need and want as safely as possible. I repeat that nothing will be risk free, just as driving to our office is not risk free. We do know that good infection control measures including attention to social distancing, meticulous disinfection, use to proper personal protective equipment and testing when indicated minimizes the chances of acquiring COVID19, just as obeying traffic rules and defensive driving minimizes the chance of a car accident.
We look forward to seeing patients as our clinic reopens in May and promise each of you that our environment is made as safe as possible. I assure you that our clinic will be among the least likely places to be exposed to this virus. It is critically important as we continue to emerge from the pandemic that we all strive to cultivate best practices for infection control and social interaction and remember that our goal is to manage and ultimately defeat the virus.
Both Dr. Laura Beaty and I take our roles as physicians during this crisis very seriously and want you to know that nothing at our practice is done without extensive forethought and preparation. We at Beaty Facial Plastic Surgery are here, behind our masks, ready to serve you safely, efficiently and effectively.
In beauty and in health,
Mark M Beaty, MD
Photography by: Beaty Facial Plastic Surgery:
