A New Year, a New Outlook, and New Offerings!

So 2022 has come in with a BANG! With a steep spike in COVID cases coinciding with the latest Omicron variant going through the population, it may seem like this is a negative sign but look further....

The following are my take based on the information available:

Positive test numbers (cases) have peaked dramatically higher than our last 3 spikes.

These numbers are now trending down almost as steeply as they went up. A few more

weeks and this will have passed.

Hospitalizations have increased .

BUT mean hospital length of stay is much lower than before.

Death counts have continued to trend down through this spike.

Despite a massive uptick in 'cases' and hospitalizations. Although a potential lagging

indicator, still appears to be staying down in other locations around the world.

So observation is telling us that the new variant is MUCH more transmissible but MUCH less deadly to the population. Risks of complications are now approaching that of the flu. In addition we have treatments available now which we did not before.

This is how pandemics end. Viruses must mutate to continue to reproduce and spread. Those mutations have always trended to being more transmissible but less and less deadly. We are essentially back to COVID being very similar to the common cold or flu.

The biggest hurdle, I believe is getting society at large to come out from the mindset of COVID19 circa 2020. I was pleased to see the UK drop most all of their COVID restrictions in the near future.

Here are some of my observations/opinions at this point:

Massive testing is no longer prudent.

Doing what we normally tell others to do when sick is about all we really can do. Stay

home if you are ill. Cover you mouth when you cough or sneeze.

Test if you have symptoms and IF the result will help you seek early care or change the

outcome of the disease for you. If it will not, don't test.

Long isolation periods for the general public are not feasible.

So many people have had or will get this latest variant that our steps to isolate it are not

impactful on the transmission.

Segregating people by vaccine status is not helpful.

Being vaccinated is a personal choice that impacts the person being vaccinated.

Vaccination has not stopped this latest variant from spreading. This latest variant is also

not causing the same amount of deaths for which the vaccines can be protective. The

'unvaccinated' as a group do not pose any danger to those who are vaccinated.

Our best measures to prevent spread don't seem to have had any impact on this

variant.

Forced general masking provisions harm more than it helps.

We had a massive spike of Omicron around the globe despite the strictest public

masking/isolation policies.

Does not seem to show a difference of significance between those communities that

didn't have those same policies.

High quality masks, properly fitted have indication in specific settings but not the

general public.

So with my take on the whole COVID/Omicron issue out of the way, I'd love to tell you what is changing with Dr. Cranney Family Medicine. We have some things that are continuing, some new offerings, and some things that are being phased out.

Things that are staying the same:

We are still providing high quality primary care services in our innovative model using a monthly membership fee to cover our services in the clinic. We are growing steadily and have reached 165 members now! This has been entirely through word of mouth so thank you to all members of Dr Cranney Family Medicine for NOT keeping us a secret. Our next goal is to break 200 members which I think we will do in the next few months.

We continue to offer COVID19 testing to members and non-members alike. We have a rapid Antigen in office test that takes 15 min to complete. We also have a PCR test that is a sendout test which has been taking approx 48 hours to get the results back. Both tests can be scheduled through our website at drcranney.com by clicking "schedule an appointment." We will continue to offer these tests until the demand is met.

Some new offerings:

As many of you know, Dr. Cranney has shared an office space with master aesthetician, Cristie Proells of the Brow Room. Because of this he has completed training and has started to offer Xeomin injections/treatments. This product is in the same class as Botox. The price for non-members of the practice is $12 per unit and for members of the practice it is $10 per unit. We're in the process of starting to advertise this service and set up scheduling options. In the mean time, if interested in a free consultation for this service, you can text 509-673-7221 or write to info@drcranney.com to schedule.

Another service we are offering is the machine called Emsella. This machine is FDA indicated for the treatment of female urinary incontinence. It can also have a beneficial effect for female pelvic pain. We have been running initial treatments on a select group of people and they have been noting some impressive initial results. This treatment actually causes the person do Kegel exercises correctly and for a duration that makes a difference. What's even better is you do the treatment fully clothed! The initial series is typically 2 x per week for 3 weeks. This treatment may be able to prevent or delay surgery for some. Again you can text or write if you'd like more information about the Emsella chair device.

Our services we are offering but will be phasing out:

COVID19 vaccinations and booster dosing. We currently have a supply of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccinations left in the clinic. Once this supply is finished we will close up our vaccination offerings. Feel free to let anyone that is interested know that we are offering these in the mean time. I will remove the appointment types and update the website once we run out.