Blaine and Whatcom County health care and fitness providers see higher number of patients as Covid-19 numbers ebb in the pandemic

From the dentist to the doctor, health care providers in Blaine and Whatcom County are seeing patient numbers return to mostly pre-pandemic levels.
PeaceHealth spokesperson Bev Mayhew said providers at the health care system in Whatcom County are now seeing patients getting routine care such as mammograms or diabetes lab tests that they forewent during most of the pandemic.
“Both primary and specialty care visits were down and are now creeping back up close to pre-pandemic volumes,” Mayhew said.
Medical specialties are down 6 percent still, Mayhew said, while appointments for primary care and surgical specialties are down 2-3 percent. Mayhew said reluctance for in-person visits is mostly among older populations and others with greater risk from Covid-19.
However, obstetrician and cardiology visits are up 2 and 5 percent, respectively, from before the pandemic.
Jong Yoon, a dentist with Borderview Dental, said the Blaine office closed during governor Jay Inslee’s emergency order from March to May 2020 but people are now making appointments as they did previously.
“We are probably seeing more influx of patients now as patients were behind in dental care due to pandemic before,” Yoon said in an email to The Northern Light. “And now after the vaccinations, they want to come in as normal.”
Brandi Lautenbach, front office manager for Blaine and Birch Bay Family Dentistry, said the dental group has seen people try to make appointments at a much higher level than before.
“It has dramatically increased during the pandemic,” Lautenbach said. “It felt like people were more comfortable going here than the doctor.”
An appointment that would normally be booked two weeks out is now taking two to three months, Lautenbach said, adding that the U.S./Canada border not fully being open is increasing demand from patients who usually cross the border for dental services. Lautenbach said she doesn’t foresee demand slowing anytime soon, and in the meantime is referring patients who need quicker appointments to the dental group’s other offices in Whatcom County.
Sean Trait, physical therapist and clinical director for Whatcom Physical Therapy in Blaine, said the clinic has seen an increase of people struggling to manage chronic pain after missing appointments.
Patients were down 50 percent in spring 2020, Trait said, with the majority of people who were coming in being people recovering from surgery or who used telehealth. Numbers rebounded in summer 2020, and continued to increase as more people became vaccinated at the beginning of this year. Because of missed appointments and closed gyms, Trait estimates that about 10-20 percent of his patients who haven’t had physical issues in years are now reporting consistent pain.
Trait added internet connection in Blaine and Point Roberts has impacted patients’ ability to access telehealth, and people who have lost income during the pandemic have also made fewer visits.
“We’re seeing a lot of people who had had their issues managed well with activity and medications are now trying to get them under management again,” he said.
Family Care Network (FCN) spokesperson Michele Anderson said that although patient volumes often fluctuate through the year, the health care clinics, including Birch Bay Family Medicine, had a significant drop in visits during the beginning of the pandemic but rebounded quickly as the company created a telemedicine option.
“Since then, visits have remained consistently high, similar or at times higher than pre-pandemic levels,” Anderson said.
Brian Ecker, FCN chief operations officer, said the number of patients choosing virtual and in-person visits has fluctuated during the Covid-19 peaks. Currently, the health care clinics are operating with about 20 percent telemedicine. “We view it as a supplement,” he said.
Ecker said FCN’s current high workload can be attributed to growing demand as it faces staffing and supply chain shortages.
No data shows FCN patients are experiencing health impacts from not making doctor’s appointments during the early stages of the pandemic, Ecker said.
“Only time will tell if or how the pandemic will affect this,” Anderson said, referring to the health impacts. “What we do know is that we treat a wide range of significant health issues at any given time, and this has not changed.”