Our COVID-19 Policies & Procedures
Dear GSST families:
We are beyond excited to begin a gradual reopening for in office services on June 15, 2020. Our therapists and staff have been working hard on developing and implementing our re- opening procedures, so we can begin seeing our clients face to face in a safe and responsible manner.As always, the safety and health of our clients and our staff are our number one priority. As we reopen, we are implementing procedures that allow us to keep everyone as safe as possible. While we are implementing these safety procedures to stop the spread of COVID, there is still risk of transmission. If you decide to begin face to face services, this is what you can expect at our offices.
1. Clients will have their temperature taken prior to entering the office. This applies to all children and adults who are entering the office. We will be using contactless thermometers.
2. You will be asked questions about your family’s potential COVID exposure. If you answer yes to any of these questions, we respectfully ask you to remain on a 2 week hold for face to face services. Teletherapy services may continue during that time.
a. Are you or your child experiencing symptoms of COVID-19? This includes fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat.
b. Have you or a close family member tested positive for COVID-19? This includes people waiting for their tests to come back.
c. Have you or your child come in contact with anyone that is known or suspected to have COVID-19?
d. Have you or your child traveled outside of NJ?
3. We will not be using our waiting rooms until further notice. Please wait in the parking lot for your turn. Your therapist will text you when they are ready for you and will meet you at the door for the temperature check. If a parent does not accompany their child to the therapy room, we ask that you wait outside of the office. Your child’s therapist will contact you for pick up when they are finished.
4. A parent may accompany the child to the treatment room if the parent’s presence is required in therapy. Parents must wear a mask. Siblings will not be allowed inside our offices.
5. Children will not be required to wear masks in the office.
6. Children (and parents if they enter our offices) will be required to wash their hands before entering the treatment room. Hand sanitizer will be provided.
7. Our therapists will wear masks and/or face shields and gloves while in the treatment session. We also have plexiglass partitions for our therapists to use when appropriate.
8. Materials and treatment rooms will be sanitized between patients. We will not use materials that cannot be sanitized. We will be using HOCL solution spray and disinfecting wipes to sanitize between sessions. We will also be using air purifiers with HEPA filters as much as possible throughout the day.
9. Please do not bring toys from home to your therapy session. If your therapist asks you to bring something specific to therapy, please make sure it is in a sealed Ziploc bag.
10. We will use UVC lamps daily to disinfect therapy rooms and materials.
11. We are staggering schedules to minimize the number of clients at the office at any given time and to allow sufficient cleaning time between clients. Due to the staggered schedules some time slots might not be available.
We will continue to provide teletherapy as an option for our clients as long as insurance companies cover it.
We want to thank everyone for your continued support during this difficult time. We appreciate your patience while we work through the re-opening process.
Please do not hesitate to contact our office at info@gardenstatespeech.com or 201-297- 9167 with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Paula Korik and Julia Kogan
GSST Management Team