Objective

The safety and wellbeing of Creekside’s employees and clients is our number one priority, and always has been. COVID-19 has presented our nation, state and community with unique challenges, and we are committed to implementing the safe workplace practices recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and consistent with Governor Little’s strategy for “Idaho Rebounds”. Doing so will allow us to continue providing the same quality of counseling and individual attention our clients have come to expect. To that end, we have enacted the following COVID-19 Safety Plan.

Social Distancing Strategies

The CDC indicates that the single best thing we can do to reduce the risk of infection is to maintain sufficient physical separation, greatly minimizing the possibility of person-to-person transmission. At Creekside Counseling, the following strategies have already been enacted.

  1. We have and will continue to insist that if clients and employees or their household members are exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 or influenza, most notably fever, shortness of breath, body aches and pains, etc., that they do not come to the clinic. Additionally, we make the same
    request when clients or employees know they have been exposed to someone who has been, or would likely be, tested positive for COVID-19. Signage posted on the front door serves as a reminder and provides instructions on how to call the front desk and make other arrangements.
  2. We will continue to practice social distancing and will maintain six feet separation to the best of our ability. We have discontinued the practice of handshaking or any other form of physical contact.
  3. Creekside Counseling has fully implemented the capability for Teletherapy, and clients who are unable, under quarantine, high-risk, or not yet comfortable going out into public are able to begin or continue to receive therapeutic services via on-line counseling (we use “Clocktree”) or
    over the phone. Clients are encouraged to verify with their insurance providers that they will reimburse for teletherapy services, but most insurers are participating fully.
  4. Our waiting room is big enough to spread out, and clients are encouraged to do so. However, Creekside has also implemented the opportunity for “concierge service” whereby clients can call the front desk to let them know they are in the parking lot, and then can wait in the security of
    their own vehicle until their therapist or office assistant comes to the side door to let them in, bypassing the public waiting room entirely.
  5. Clients are strongly discouraged from bringing family members (children, spouses, significant others or friends) to the clinic unless they have been specifically requested to do so by their therapist as part of the therapeutic process. If childcare is a concern for clients, teletherapy will
    be offered as a better solution during this time.
  6. We have installed glass panels at all the reception windows that serve as a physical shield, protecting both our reception staff and our clients, while still allowing for unencumbered face-to-face communication, and the exchange of paperwork or payment.
  7. The wearing of protective facemasks is not required at this time, but clients and employees are free to wear them to ensure their own comfort while out in public. We will, however, immediately enact facemask requirements should that be mandated by State or Local leaders. Sanitation Practices: In conjunction with social distancing, the CDC recommends heightened sanitation practices to greatly reduce the possibility of social transmission of diseases like COVID-19.

The following sanitation practices are currently in place:

  1. Creekside staff will routinely wipe down countertops, doorknobs and armrests in the waiting room with disinfecting wipes multiple times throughout the day.
  2. Hand sanitizer is available to the extent we can obtain it. Though we will make every reasonable effort to provide public hand sanitizer, supply shortages nation-wide may interfere with our ability to make it available, and clients who have hand sanitizer are encouraged to use it.
  3. Employees are equipped with hand sanitizer and signs are posted throughout the clinic reminding staff to wash frequently and to avoid touching their faces. Creekside ensures an adequate supply of soap and disposable towels and handwashing is available for clients who request it.

Health Screening Practices

The following will be administered at the discretion of Creekside Management and the individual therapists.

  1. Therapists will conduct a visual and verbal symptom check prior to commencing an in-person counseling session.
  2. If clients are observed to exhibit symptoms of illness, they will gently and discreetly be required to leave the premises, regardless of whether or not they think they could have been exposed to COVID-19. All COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms will be presumed to be COVID-19, and every effort will be made to disinfect where the person was located and what they may have touched. Time permitting, and all parties willing, arrangements can be made to conduct that session via teletherapy. Otherwise, the client will be rescheduled, and no charges will be incurred (unless more than 30 minutes of therapy have been provided prior to identifying symptoms).
  3. If clerical staff employees are observed to have come to work while exhibiting COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms, they will be sent home and paid according to the requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)
    Act, and not return to work until they have: a) been quarantined and declared safe to be released from quarantine; b) been symptom-free without pharmaceutical aid (such as Tylenol) for 72 hours; or c) otherwise cleared to return to work by a qualified health professional.
  4. If therapists are observed to have come to work while exhibiting COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms, they will be sent home and allowed to conduct teletherapy sessions from a private location at home (to the extent such sessions will be reimbursed by the client’s insurance provider). They
    will not be permitted to practice from their office at Creekside until they have: a) been quarantined and declared safe to be released from quarantine; b) been symptom-free without pharmaceutical aid (such as Tylenol) for 72 hours; or c) otherwise been cleared to return to work by a qualified health professional.

» Prepare for Telehealth visits by filling out the required forms.

Our goal is to work together to weather this storm and to be available to support you during this difficult time. Please watch this website for any updated information.