Health care providers locally and around the country are seeing a steep decline in the number of children being brought in for well visits.
Akron Children’s Hospital stopped offering well visits for children over the age of 3 in late March. Over the last two weeks it’s begun returning to full capacity.
Dr. David Karas, a pediatrician at Akron Children’s, worries about children missing vaccines or adolescent mental health issues going unnoticed. He said well visits are more important than ever.
“We’ve done everything to ensure family and patient safety when coming to our offices, and we want to be there to provide all the services that families need during this difficult time,” he said.
Karas said parents can feel confident bringing their children to the doctors, as they have implemented infection control practices such as mobile check-ins, screening all patients and family members at the door, and face masks.
Akron Children’s is at 70% capacity right now, and they hope to be back at 100% in the next few weeks.
