Teenager With Adhesive Bandage On His Arm After Vaccinat

COVID Mask Policy Update

Effective Monday, March 27th

Please Read The Entire Message

The COVID pandemic continues to evolve, and we have thankfully seen progressive increases in vaccination rates in our community and a decrease in the severity of COVID infections and complications for both children and immunized adults.  As a result of these encouraging trends, the majority of us have relaxed our masking practices in the past year as we have returned to work, our children or grandchildren have returned to schools, and we all have generally resumed involvement in our community groups and organizations.

We here at CMA have remained cautious throughout the pandemic, and we have had mandatory masking rules at all times in our offices.  However, we realize how much masking alters many dynamics of a visit to our office – children have had a harder time getting to know their providers, and parents and other family members also often have decreased satisfaction with visits due to effects that masking may have on communication.

Effective Monday, March 27th 2023 we have decided to relax our masking policy at the office and make masks optional for children and adults if all members of the family in our office are free from symptoms of contagious illnesses. 

Here are the details of our new policy:

  1. Masks are still required for the entire family if you or one of your children with you have any of the following symptoms:
    • Fever
    • Cough
    • Congestion or runny nose
    • Sore throat
    • Eye redness or discharge
    • Vomiting
    • Diarrhea

    • Example: A mother brings her 3 children (ages 18 months, 3 years, and 5 years) to the office for a visit.  The 3-year old has a cough and runny nose.  All individuals except for the child under 2 years of age are required to wear a mask.

  2. Masking is required if you or one of your children present at the visit have had close contact with somebody with COVID in the past 10 days.
  3. Children under 2 years of age and those with developmental disorders that make mask-wearing very difficult do not need to wear a mask.
  4. If you are making a same-day sick visit and you are being seen on the “sick” appointment side of either office we recommend mask-wearing even if nobody in your group has any of the above symptoms.  This is not a requirement, but is recommended for your protection.
  5. During newborn appointments, well child checks, and routine follow-up visits, children and adults may choose whether they wish to wear a mask or not, provided they do not meet criteria outlined above.
  6. Providers and nurses in our office will consistently wear masks when evaluating children with signs of acute respiratory or contagious illness.  During other routine visits, mask-wearing by our providers and nurses is now optional.
  7. If you are seeing a provider or nurse who is not wearing a mask and you prefer that we do wear a mask, please let us know and we will be happy to do so.

We ask for everyone’s cooperation to abide by the above rules so that all families may feel safe in our offices at all times.  We are all on the same team in this situation.  Please bring masks with you if any of the above masking requirements apply to you or members of your family here for a visit.

Any changes to this masking policy will be shared via email and social media in the future, so please keep up-to-date by carefully reading our messages!