Provider Perspective – Kimberly and Randall Blohowiak, D.C.

by Nancy Barney, Senior Resource Advisor

It is hard to believe that we are at the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic and the transformation of our lives with masks, toilet paper shortages, temperature checks, social distancing and now, waiting for vaccines. The Public Health Emergency (PHE) has been renewed four times since then, with the most recent PHE renewal on January 21, 2021.

We thought you would appreciate hearing from your peers on how they have maneuvered through this extraordinary time!

Kimberly and Randall Blohowiak, D.C. of New Medical Center, S.C. of Waupun, WI:

Impact of COVID to your business:

• We obviously had a loss of revenue because some patients were afraid to enter the clinic and continue their treatment plans.
• We had increased expenses due to purchasing PPE for employees and patients, doubling the amount of anti-microbial cleaning products and hand sanitizers; also, prices increased on those items due to the high demand and limited availability.
• Fortunately, as a medical clinic deemed “essential,” we were not required to follow the state mandate to close, as many other businesses did.  We chose to remain open to help our patients and community.

Challenges related to COVID:

• The most “at risk” patient population for the COVID virus is senior citizens and patients with underlying health conditions – which is the majority of the patients we see – so how do we make those patient’s feel safe coming into our clinic?
• How do we continue to market our new integrated medical clinic to a patient population that is significantly at risk?
• How do we change our protocols and procedures for patients who ARE willing to come to the clinic, while keeping them and our staff safe and healthy?
• We needed to make sure ALL staff, not just Providers, were educated and able to confidently address patient’s questions and concerns.

What you learned:

• When we remain focused and committed to our corporate Mission, Vision, and Values we can overcome any challenge!  Through teamwork and a common goal, no obstacle is too great to overcome!
• We are stronger than we think!
• Communication and adaptability are truly the keys to success!

Was there a ‘silver lining’ or positive event that came out of this challenge as it relates to your business or even in relationship to your community?

• We solidified our commitment to the community by remaining open when many other medical providers were voluntarily closing AND most patients keeping their appointments demonstrated to us how trusting and loyal our patient base is.  We are truly part of our community!
• The slight decrease in patient volume afforded us the opportunity to spend that time perfecting the policies and procedures of our new model- having just transitioned from a chiropractic clinic to a fully integrated medical clinic in early 2020.