Wow! No one saw that coming! Here at APCDC we were already set for a rough sea journey in 2020 and then COVID came and bashed everyone's boats.
We hope you and your family have been navigating through COVID in good health. Overall we have been ok at Aiea Pearl City Dental Care with no COVID related health concerns. The uncertainty and longevity of the past couple months has been tough. We are slowly getting through it ok, but like others, with challenging obstacles of course. The dental community has been so supportive toward each other. From group texts involving over 20 offices, weekly Zoom meetings mixing dentists of different generations, Facebook groups, online dental forums, to the ADA and HDA, we are so fortunate to have a strong sense of camaraderie and support. Even HR vendors like Altres and Proservice and financial advisors have been so helpful offering their expertise to help us navigate through these past 7 weeks. We would also like to thank our patients who have been so supportive and understanding. Our team members, wow, we are lucky to have them all aboard! They all can't wait to see our patients to help them progress toward good health.
While we will be returning on May 11 on a still limited basis, the rest of 2020 still remains uncertain. And we are in the process of steering our boat to more undiscovered seas.
In November 2019 we started negotiations to expand into Unit 301 next door to our office. We knew one of our biggest service problems was that we couldn't schedule patients for cleanings in a timely manner. If someone had to reschedule, we weren't able to secure an appointment for them for up to 6 months. If someone called and they were overdue for 6 months, it would be months before we could accommodate them. This is no way to treat patients, and we really knew it was becoming a problem when our long time patients were letting us know about it. We had already expanded hours to two evenings and we didn't want to strain more time away from our families. We felt more space was the only way to allow us more flexibility and freedom to provide the care our patients deserved, as well as provide work hours and a work environment that was in the best interest of our team members. We had reached out to our neighbors in 2016 regarding their space and have been looking for commercial property since then. Over 3 years later the opportunity presented and we took it.
We signed our architect's contract in mid-January and the final lease amendments in mid-February, then COVID hit us mid-march. Since we had already signed the lease and arrangements in November 2019 were completed contingent upon us securing unit 301, we had to proceed with our project. As of the first week of May, a third party expeditor still has our plans and a Board of Water supply backflow valve are holding us up from proceeding to permitting. Then, we don't know how long the permit will take once plans are submitted to the City and County. We would appreciate any help!
It would have been ideal for construction to start over the past 7 weeks. Unfortunately that was not the case so this means at some point over the next 2-6 months we will have to close our office and reschedule appointments again. We sincerely apologize for 2020! However, we are excited for a new setting to offer a better service experience for our patients.