Dr. Caren and Dr. Urman's Heart Health e-Newsletter

The latest from Drs Urman and Caren regarding the coronavirus pandemic as well as staying heart healthy

This complimentary monthly educational service is for our patients and their families but please forward it to anyone who might find it of interest. It usually is sent out the first Friday of each month but since March, in order to keep our patients educated with the latest updated information on the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had additional special editions as well. Click here to enter our website and learn more about our practice. We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or wish to make an appointment. 

Dear patients and friends,

During these tumultuous times, we hope this finds you and your families safe and well. The uncertainty and pain of the pandemic coupled with the tragedy wrought by racial inequities and civil unrest in our communities generate grief, stress, anger and confusion. However, please remember that we are here for your cardiac health needs.

As health care providers, there is nothing more important to us than the well-being of our patients. This unprecedented situation is challenging for all of us but we continue to adapt to the "new normal."  It is important to keep you and your heart healthy while trying to remain safe.

If you would like to see our prior COVID-19 Heart Health e-Newsletters, click below:

[Author’s note: This e-newsletter was written on Thursday, June 4, 2020. The subject matter is rapidly changing, and the recommendations below may be out of date within a short period of time. Find the latest general recommendations from the LA County Dept of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control by clicking on the links.]. In addition, this link is quite thorough and complete in giving you the latest statistics not only for LA county but also how we compare to the rest of the country: https://corona-virus.la/data 

We Remain Open to Serve You

Yes, we have remained open to meet the needs of our patients. While initially, we were seeing only urgent appointments in the office that could not be handled by other means, we are slowly expanding in-office appointments whether for seeing one of our doctors or for having testing that should not wait.  This is in line with the guidance from the California Department of Public Health as of April 27, 2020 regarding resuming the state's deferred and preventive health care. All in-office appointments will be screened to make sure that an in-office appointment is preferable and more appropriate rather than a telemedicine appointment.

Commitment to Cleanliness and Safety

We are taking precautions to keep all patients safe when they come into our office. Our standard cleaning procedures have always used EPA-certified cleansers and disinfectants to maintain the cleanliness of our offices and equipment. We practice universal precautions and continue to be diligent. Our entire premises, including the lobby, patient rooms, and bathroom, are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected at regular intervals throughout each day.  Hand sanitizer, disposable wipes, and no-touch disposal receptacles will be easily accessible throughout our office. Our staff will continue to maintain strict personal hygiene measures throughout the day. Hand-shaking is discouraged. You can feel safe and secure in our office. 

To ensure YOUR safety and the safety of our staff and doctors

• To minimize patient density in the office and maintain safe social distancing, and to service those patients who cannot come in, we can schedule telemedicine appointments to address your needs if it is felt to be appropriate
•  In order to enter the office, you must come to the appointment wearing the MOST protective face mask you have.
• Only patients with scheduled appointments will be allowed to enter the office. It is important to please be ON TIME to your appointment as we are scheduling our appointments spaced out to help ensure adequate social distancing
• You will have to have your temperature taken as all of our staff will have had done on their arrival to the office. 
• The waiting room will be used only as necessary with the appropriate 6-foot distances between seating for social distancing. To minimize person to person contact we have installed Lucite barriers at the front desk
• The building elevators allow only a maximum of 3 people at a time but lately the building has been empty enough that often one can easily ride the elevator by themselves

 Please be aware all of this will take extra time and personnel power (while our daily staffing is down to ensure adequate social distancing in the office) and, therefore, we can accommodate fewer patients per day.  We will do our very best to book new appointments as quickly as possible to ensure safety standards are maintained.  We appreciate your loyalty and patience during this time. 

 Regardless of all these necessary and functional changes in the office as well as in our lives - we will continue to be devoted to offering you the highest level of cardiac care possible.

Do Not Delay Your Potentially Life-Saving Cardiac Care

While purely elective testing had initially been put on hold for the safety of everyone, as you might imagine, when it comes to cardiovascular care, today's preventive or elective test might become more urgent if delayed for too long (click here to read about the pandemic delaying routine medical care). Thus, we are assessing each patient's situation on a case by case basis to determine if it is important to proceed with testing (whether cardiac testing or lab work) sooner rather than later. Please call our office to discuss if you have any questions or concerns.

No doubt, even under the best of circumstances, life for us will not be entirely back to normal anytime soon. However, no matter what, we are here for you.  Let us know if you have any questions or concerns and take advantage of technology to stay medically connected with us to keep you healthy.

 Share Your Experience

Please help get the word out about our doctors and our practice. It will only take a minute and we will be so grateful! Share your experience in our office by clicking on your cardiologist:

If you Yelp review your healthcare encounter with Dr. Urman by clicking here.

On Google, look Dr Caren or Dr Urman up in Google, on the right of the screen you will see a picture of the office, a map, hours and other reviews, if you look just above the review section toward the bottom and to the right you can click on the button ‘Write a review’

On Vitals, here is the link for Dr Caren: https://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Jeffrey_Caren.html

On Vitals, here is the link for Dr. Urman: https://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Mark_Urman.html

Following a Heart-Healthy Diet and Lifestyle