HEALTHCARE
HEALTHCARE IN THE NORTHEAST METRO AREA
Now that a vaccine is available for COVID-19 , health clinics throughout the Northeast Metro are extremely busy , helping to facilitate the delivery of vaccinations . The optimism for the future is a far cry from where things stood in early 2020 .
The entire year , in fact , was a challenging one for the healthcare industry . Many practices had to close for a time while they figured out how to safely deliver services to patients .
Willow Lake Dental in Vadnais Heights , for example , had to shut down for 11 weeks . “ In the beginning it was a little bit scary because there was so much uncertainty with what we were facing ,” said Willow Lake Dental ’ s office manager Mark St . Dennis .
“ Once we got over the initial shock , we went into a mode of just protecting everything we could . I got on the phone with all of our vendors and lenders and just negotiated any sort of cash flow stoppage that we could .”
Dental clinics may have not been able to function at the beginning of the pandemic , but thanks to telemedicine , many other providers were able to continue seeing patients virtually until safety protocols were determined , and it was deemed safe to reopen clinics .
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