As most of you already know, the mandate for wearing face masks will expire for the state of Alabama this coming Friday, April 9, 2021. When this announcement was made by our governor, Urology Centers of Alabama, as well as all healthcare providers in the state, were faced with the challenge of determining if this decision was in the best interest of the patients they serve or the employees who provide that service.

Since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the state of Alabama, Urology Centers of Alabama organized a team of physicians, nurses, and administrators to track, trend, and stay abreast of local, state, federal and worldwide guidelines to ensure that we were doing everything possible to protect the safety of our team members and our patients. Our team has continued to meet regularly throughout this pandemic and will continue to do so until COVID-19 no longer poses a threat to society.

Our goal is to review current data based upon scientific facts and in accordance with CDC guidelines so that we can make informed and responsible decisions to reduce the spread of transmission and infection for team members and patients. As such, the Board has decided that UCA will continue with its current practice of requiring all team members and patients to wear a face mask at all UCA offices until further notice. The only changes that we will be making to our COVID-19 guidelines at this time is 1) the discontinuation of temperature checks for patients upon arrival, and 2) the discontinuation of temperature checks for team members at the beginning of their shift. All other guidelines will remain in effect and evaluated as new information is made available.

Thank you for your continued efforts to minimize the risk of exposure to our team and patients. Please contact us with any questions.

Dr. Michael Bivins

President, Urology Centers of Alabama