Page 15 - BusinessWest December 21, 2020

Root Causes
For This Dental Practice, COVID Has Brought Myriad Challenges
IBy George O’Brien
n many ways, Dr. Ronald Goldsher says,
dentists and periodontists were better-pre-
pared for COVID-19 than many others in healthcare, and certainly most business own-
ers not in that sector.
“In some respects, dentists are way ahead of
the curve because of what happened years ago with the AIDS epidemic,” said Goldsher, owner
cedures could be carried out (and when) to the sharp reduction in overall business volume.
Add it all up, and it’s been ultra-challenging and even unnerving, said Goldsher, before add- ing quickly that it has also been rewarding at times. Indeed, to be open and able to provide
“In some respects, dentists are way ahead of the curve because of what happened years ago with the AIDS epidemic.”
needed services to those in need, especially those with emergencies, has been gratifying, he told BusinessWest.
“Every day, I have patients thanking me for being open and doing what I’m doing,” he said. “Some people tell me stories about how they have food delivered outside their home, their mail goes into plastic bags and they wait sev- eral days until they open it, they don’t exchange
Goldsher
Continued on page 17
Dr. Ronald Goldsher says COVID has brought a host of new challenges for his practice, but also some rewards in the form of being able to help patients in need.
of Pioneer Valley Periodon-
tics, which operates offices in Northampton and Greenfield. “At that time, there were a lot of mandated changes in infection control, so we’re used to steril- izing everything, using barriers on equipment, wearing masks, and disinfecting surfaces between patients; we may have ramped things up a bit [since COVID], but we were used to doing all that.”
But being better prepared certainly didn’t mean Gold- sher and others in this profes- sion were fully prepared for all that COVID-19 would throw at them — from the trepidation of patients to seek needed care to the equipment that would have to be purchased (from PPE
to special air filters) to keep staff and patients safe; from confusion regarding what pro-
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DECEMBER 21, 2020 15
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