Goodbye 2020! Hello 2021!

Happy New Year!

Finally, we can bid farewell to 2020! We all can agree that it has been a such an odd year. This year may seem too fast but it reminded us about the value of time, life and good health. The decade ended unexpectedly, but let us just pray that next would be better.

With this in mind, we would like to thank everyone for entrusting their health to Dr. Ferreira and the clinic. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the patients we saw all throughout the year. It has been our pleasure to serving you and once again, we want to thank you for being part of the EHC Family!

January is also Thyroid Awareness Month!

Today, some 30 million Americans are affected by thyroid disease. If you think you or a loved one may have a thyroid condition, you should learn about diagnosis, symptoms and treatments.

Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism is where your thyroid works more actively than it should. Hyperthyroidism is most common in patients under age 50, and is marked by an enlarged thyroid gland, plus insomnia, a rapid heart rate, anxiety, weight loss, increased appetite, excessive perspiration, and diarrhea. However, the senior hypothyroidism patient may only have one or two of these symptoms, which can delay or prevent accurate diagnosis.

Although hyperthyroidism is associated with more energy, the body breaks down after a while, leading the person to feel more tired.

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism means that your thyroid is working slower than it should. Hypothyroidism is most common is patients over 60, and the incidence of this disease increases with age. Symptoms in the older patient are often unspecific; and since older adults can also suffer memory impairment, weight loss, loss of appetite, it’s easy to see why hypothyroidism is so under-diagnosed.

Hashimoto’s Disease

Hashimoto’s disease is also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. It’s the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States, affecting about 14 million Americans. It can occur at any age, though it’s most common in middle-aged women. The disease occurs when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and slowly destroys the thyroid gland and its ability to produce hormones.

Some people with mild cases of Hashimoto’s disease may have no obvious symptoms. The disease can remain stable for years, and symptoms are often subtle, which means they also mimic symptoms of many other conditions.

Source: Click HERE to read more.

Dr. Ferreira will be travelling to Mexico on January 28, 2021 for the burial of her mother’s ashes. Dr. Ferreira will be back in Utah on February 3, 2021; however, it will be necessary for her to self-quarantine for 14 days. For this reason, she will not be able to attend to patients who require physical contact during this period (from February 3, 2021 until February 16, 2021) .

All the appointments during her self-quarantine period will be held via telemedicine or phone consultation. If your prescription is about to run out, please ask your pharmacy to send us a refill request 2 weeks prior to the dates mentioned above, that way you avoid running out of supplies during the holidays.

And we would like to remind everyone that Dr. Ferreira will be travelling to rural Mexico; wherein, there is limited connection so she will not be able to respond to patient’s inquiries. Regardless of the circumstances, the clinic staff will be responding to your inquiries and concerns, but will only relay the messages to her once she comes back from Mexico – as to honor and respect the solemnity of the burial. We would kindly request everyone to keep the Ferreira family and the soul of Evangelina Ferreira in our prayers.

Follow up appointments that DO NOT REQUIRE any physical examination will be conducted via:

• Phone Consultation
• Telemedicine

Patients who REQUIRE a physical exam or service, the following is clinic protocol to enter the premises:

• Facemask must be worn to enter the clinic
• Boby temperature scan upon entering
• Hand sanitizer dispensed upon entering

The number of appointments per day has been reduced to implement a 1-hour gap for every appointment to allow time for sanitation of the clinic space and prevent more than one patient in the lobby simultaneously.

For patients who wish to purchase supplements, please call us in advance that way we can schedule a pickup time.

Thank you for your patience with the new matter that your health care is being conducted.

By following these measures we are able to minimize the exposure to all parties involved, especially reducing the risk to those patients who are in the vulnerable population that are immune-compromised.

We would like to remind everyone as well that Dr. Ferreira is in this group and depends also on those that she is exposed to that they have done their best to social distance and wear a mask when out in public so she may also continue to serve all patients during this pandemic.

Prescription & Appointment Reminders:

Prescription Refills:

• Ask your pharmacy to send the clinic a prescription refill request 2 weeks at minimum prior to you running out of your medication.
• You may also reach out to the clinic as a secondary reminder but having the pharmacy send us the request will still be mandatory.
• Allows Dr. Ferreira to review the patient’s chart prior to authorizing the request to ensure it is still appropriate. She needs to and does review your chart before refills are sent in on her administrative day of business.
• It will prevent you from going without if Dr. Ferreira is not available due to a holiday and/or conference attendance, which can result in a week closure.

Emergency Refill Requests:

• You may need to ask your pharmacy to provide you an emergency supply if Dr. Ferreira is absent due to an unforeseen circumstance and/or conference.
• Requesting a refill when you have run out may subject you to a fee. We reserve the right to charge for an Emergency Refill for a time frame less than that of clinic policy.

Messages to Dr. Ferreira:

• Dr. Ferreira addresses these messages on her admin day so please be patient.
• Messages via the patient portal and/or clinic email directed to Dr. Ferreira should be of NON-URGENT matters.
• For urgent matters please do not send a message but rather contact the clinic to make an appointment so your concern may be addressed appropriately. You may also schedule an appointment online via the Patient Portal on Patient Fusion by logging in HERE.

Canceling Appointments:

• Avoid the $50 cancellation fee by canceling 2 business days prior to your scheduled appointment – Clinic Cancellation Policy.
• Allows us to schedule patients who may be desire an earlier date from their scheduled appointment
• Allows Dr. Ferreira to prepare for the correct patients on schedule as Dr. Ferreira reviews cases a few days before your appointment.

Here are a couple of benefits of activating your Patient Fusion Account:

• A quick click to schedule a new appointment or reschedule one you can’t make.
• Receive reminders for upcoming appointments so you don’t forget! A great way to avoid late cancellation fees.

Our full list of Clinic policies & Portal Login can be also found on the website under the “Current Patients” tab.