Groundhogs, Crocuses (and Covid)

Well, we have firmly planted ourselves into the New Year and wait along with the rest of you as to what lies ahead in the coming weeks and months. The relatively mild winter here in Portland has begun to surprise us with new growth on the tips of tree branches and tender green shoots of crocus and daphne from neighboring yards.

For our part, we do have a couple of updates to share with you.

Online scheduling with Dr. Kitt has now resumed. You can click here to be directed to the calendar and follow the prompts to secure an appointment for either telemedicine or an in-person visit.

Also, since COVID-19 is still a very real presence in our community, we ask that each patient who is seeing Dr. Kitt in person fill out our Covid-19 Questionnaire prior to their appointment. You can either download it from the Each Peach website, or it should be sent to you as a Questionnaire through the patient portal as well, for maximum convenience and ease. If you need the website download, please fill it out on the day of your appointment and bring it to the office with you. If needed, you can find that questionnaire here or on our FAQs page under “Forms to Download.”

At Healthy Living Family Medicine, Each Peach is continuing to maintain precautionary protocols such as:

1. Our waiting room is closed, with toys in boxes. Patients may ring the doorbell for Dr. Kitt when they arrive, and she will let them in as soon as possible.  There are seats that only Dr. Kitt’s patients use for waiting should there be a wait before the appointment starts.
2. Patients and providers must wear masks in the office unless there is a brief need for a nose/mouth/throat exam. The mask must cover both the nose and mouth at all times while in the office space.
3. All surfaces are cleaned between visits, as usual, with a strong but non-toxic anti-microbial cleaner.
4. If you need to speak with Claire, my trusted front-office assistant, please call 971-319-3224.  Note: there was a transient issue with the phone system where voicemail was not picking up. If this affected you, our sincere apologies! Please call back, everything seems to be working again.
5. Patients can schedule their own telemedicine appointments online here. You may also schedule them with Claire if you prefer.
6. Blood draws can be performed at the office or ordered from one of the local labs.

Dr. Kitt is eager to offer whatever aid or support she can during 2021. As we near a year of Covid-19 in our lives, it becomes both more normal and more strange.  Dr. Kitt has received her Covid-19 vaccine in an effort to protect her patients as much as she can and can speak to patients about the experience as well as protective immune support for those people who either decide to be vaccinated or decide to decline vaccination.

On a higher note, we just learned that the truth behind Groundhog Day is that male groundhogs awaken from hibernation during mid-winter and poke their little heads above the earth not to look for their shadows, but rather to look for female groundhogs within their hibernation territory! They feel urgency to procreate on first whispers of spring in time for baby groundhogs to be born with enough months to mature and eat the massive volumes of grass needed to survive hibernation during the following winter. Fun fact! Baby groundhogs are often referred to as pups, kits, or, our favorite, chucklings.

May you all have enough time to peer out of your dens and notice the first inklings of spring, maybe see your shadow as well as some of your fellow neighborhood hibernators!