The existing schedule for June 1 and moving forward is still intact. If you have an appointment scheduled after May 28, it is still on our books. However, this closure will have covered two and a half months. Nearly half of our patients have had to miss an appointment with the hygienists in that time. There is simply no way to quickly make up all those appointments. It will probably take us months to get everyone back onto a regular schedule again. Here’s how we can do this:
– We can’t have 800 patients call Linda the first week of June asking to reschedule. For everyone’s sanity, we’re asking you to make use of our online scheduling system (see more below).
– If you had an appointment cancelled, you should have received an e-mail (from care@huismandental.com) and/or a text message from our office (396-5919) which has a scheduling link in it. That link is UNIQUE TO THE PATIENT. If you click it, it will allow you to look through our schedule for days with available appointments and to select the time and date that work best for you.
– If you’re coming due for an appointment this summer, you should also receive a text or email with a personal scheduling link about 6 weeks ahead of time.
– As of May 21, June is completely full, July is almost completely full and there is some scattered availability in August. In many cases, it may be that patients who missed an appointment in late March will simply choose a late September date in order to stay on their regular schedules.
PLEASE! There are patients in our practice who, because of their work schedules, can only come at 8:00 or 4:00. They usually reserve those appointments 6 to 12 months in advance. If you are self-scheduling, please try to avoid 8:00 and 4:00 times if you’re able to come at other times of the day.
The online scheduling is available ONLY through the personal link you receive in your e-mail or text. You cannot access it through our website.
If you make an appointment but wish that you could come sooner, please check the box that says “Notify me if an earlier appointment becomes available.”
We recognize that some of our patients may have reason to remain in isolation even as more sectors of Michigan reopen. If you have an appointment but feel it best to defer it, please call us ASAP. We will work with you to reschedule for a later time.
Our entire team is anxious to return to work on June 1, and we are excited to see you all again! In that excitement, we know that this is a new abnormal. We will need to ask you to extend grace to us, and we will need to extend it to you. The lovely saying, “We make the road by walking,” could also be expressed as, “We’re making this up as we go along.” Most of you have been patients of ours for a very long time (I’m going to hit my 30-year mark working for the practice later this summer! How’s that even possible?) Let’s all lean on our shared history together to trust that all of us have good motives and intentions in the midst of trying circumstances, and we will figure this out together!
Blessings to you all, and we look forward to seeing you again!
Dr. Jeff