I almost hate to write this update as it seems everywhere I look businesses are talking to me about their COVID updates. But we are alone together and making history and this virus deserves a mention.

We started hearing about a scary virus in the beginning of 2020 while it was wreaking havoc in far away places. Although we were concerned about people living there, it really wasn’t until half way through February when we started having conversations about what this could mean for us in the Inland Empire and our families who live here. By the first week of March, we were very concerned as we talked to local healthcare administrators and our contacts in Seattle area where they were seeing more and more cases daily. By Thursday, March 12, the Governor or California, Gavin Newsome, issued a new executive order to limit large gatherings of more than 250 people. As healthcare providers, WonderLab employees are considered essential and could remain open and serving our families. We were grateful for the choice to remain open, but also wanted to ensure we were making the best choices for our employees and the families we served. After much thought and consideration, we started making plans for “what ifs”. By Monday we had a team, lead by co-founder Shannon Injety, researching telehealth platforms and by Tuesday afternoon we were orienting staff on how to use Zoom for telehealth. By Wednesday morning we were working remotely seeing kiddos in their homes over computers.

The first week revealed many pros and cons of remote visits. One major hurdle included access to technology. Many families now had more than one child at home full time trying to complete their regular school work through the computer. How does a family ration their home computer for parents to work, children for school and also for therapy for one or more child? We soon learned we were facing a problem of access with many families. They were in need of additional computers or tablets and some were lacking WIFI to get these devices connected.

Local business to the rescue! When ESRI in Redlands heard we were in need of computers for children in order for them to attend therapy visits remotely, they stepped up immediately and donated 7 computers for us! The laptops were delivered to families at their doors (after being sanitized). Then our office staff and therapists walked families through the steps to connection through Zoom. What a gift! Thank you ESRI!

We meet at least weekly with therapists to connect socially and also to learn from one another. What is working? What barriers are we facing? Do we have any solutions that we want to explore? I have to mention here that we work with the best, most energetic and flexible staff ever! Let’s review, they went from 100% in person visits in a clinic setting to 100% telehealth visits in the home setting in less than 24 hours. And they did it all with a sense of adventure and cheer. We were the first to transition to telehealth in our area and didn’t have a road map (some area pediatric clinics closed temporarily, some continued in person visits, and others later transitioned to telehealth too). Yet our therapists’ primary concern was for health and safety, after all, our first rule of therapy is “do no harm”. Back to our weekly meetings…. Our therapists were siting some surprising benefits of remote visits. They missed the hugs and the ability to help physically with tasks, but they noted that parents were expressing they felt more empowered to complete activities at home. Some parents were even asking if we would always have the option to have teletherapy visits. This was great news as the executive orders and restrictions continued to roll in over the next few days and weeks. By March 20, 2020 Californian’s were told whenever possible to stay at home.

We are grateful that temporary rules have been put into place by many payers allowing us to bill for services that are provided remotely. The rules for California are temporary and we aren’t able to predict whether they will become permanent and if we will be able to offer remote services, where appropriate, in the future. But we are grateful for IEHP and Kaiser, amongst others who are willing to be flexible in this pandemic so children don’t miss out on important services.

As we sit in the uncertainty, not knowing when we will be able to gather together again, we still have hope. The pandemic has taken from us, yes. We have lost friends from COVID-19. We have missed out, we have lost the surety of knowing what to expect. BUT, we have a hope for a better tomorrow. We have learned new things, we have been reminded about the importance of clean hands! This pandemic has given us gifts (not that we would have chosen to learn them in this way). We have been reminded that we need each other. We need connection with others and we need to make time for it. We have learned that we need to take more time helping parents feel empowered with their children’s therapy. We have been forced to drive less, be home more, and to be mindful of how we spend our time. We are reminded of the amazing families we serve who, at a moment’s notice, jumped into the unknown with us in the online world. We learned to be mindful of supporting our local businesses. For these gifts of perspective, we are grateful.

We hope that it will be safe to resume face to face clinic visits again soon. Your therapists will be keeping you in the loop on those decisions. Until then, we pray for health for each of you. May you find the gifts in uncertainty too. Know that we miss you and are looking forward to a future of hugs. Lots of hugs.