Ds has faced both situations. One of the big reasons I was hot to trot to get him OUT of fostercare is because I saw how his former CF center handled clinic and I was furious over it. And yes, they were supposedly an accredited center, though once we finalize his adoption I WILL be writing a letter of complaint to the CFF.
At his old center, he came in, shared a huge waiting room with tons of children. There had to be 30 children in the waiting room, and there was no way to know who had CF. They were all the speciality clinics running at the same time. Some absolutely were CFers, others had other issues. MOST had runny noses. There weren't even masks available, much less being utilized on any of the children. Ds' fostermom reported that he had NEVER used a mask at clinic.
Now, once they took him back, an hour later, they did put him in one room. Who knows who used it previously and whether it was wiped down or not. But, the child life specialist proceeded to bring in at least a dozen communal toys, and judging from the speed which she brought them in, they were NOT wiped down first.
Doctors, nurses, nutritionalist, etc all entered the room and didn't bother to wash their hands. Several coughed on him. And, they didn't even shut the door when they stepped back out.
GREAT. No wonder he contracted PA at that clinic. We were quite happy to get him out of there.
Our clinic is totally different. Its a small waiting room. They schedule like-cultured patients for the same day only. So, except in an emergency, Ds can only get clinic appointments for Tuesdays. If he has an emergency, he has to come in early before clinic opens. Waiting room only has about 10 seats in it. I've never seen more than 2 patients in the waiting room. And, there are masks at the front door before you ever enter that all patients must wear outside of their exam rooms. We had to wait 10 minutes for an exam room once because they were wiping it down again. Never waited longer than that.
They usher us into a room and then ds is allowed to remove his mask, but his door MUST stay closed. All patients must stay in their own rooms with the doors closed, or wear masks when they step out. They should only be out to use the bathroom. Child Life Specialists bring individually sealed toys and treats which are given to the children to keep. There's also individual coloring books and packs of crayons in the waiting room, with a sign if you take one you must KEEP it--do NOT return it.
I have no idea how they have time to see all of their patients all of the time at our center. They are so fastidious in their care, and very strict about adhereing to every CFF guideline. They are extremely proactive and aggressive on treatment. I know when we leave they wipe the room down before using it for another patient as well.
I only have one complaint about our CF clinic at the moment. The hospital grouped their phone into a call center for all the speciality clinics. Evidentally as of this month when I need to reach someone at the CF center, I have to call the call center and leave a message. I'm really not okay with that nonsense. But, when we go to clinic next Tuesday, I'm going to see if we at least have a nursing line to access without having to add another layer between ds and his doctors. I don't really care for all the basic stuff. But, if I need to reach his doctor, I already have to go through the nurse and I'm not at all happy at the prospect of having to go through a call center of non-medical personnel first. But, other than that we are totally happy with our CF clinic. Given how bad it *was* for Ds, the care he gets now is vastly improved.
