West Tennessee Eye closes office, will dispense eyewear curbside after employee tests positive for coronavirus

On Tuesday, West Tennessee Eye notified its patients their offices would be closing immediately after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

The company has three locations – Memphis and Millington in addition to their Covington office in the Baptist-Tipton annex – and did not say if the staff member worked at one or all three.

“We wanted to alert everyone who might have been in our offices recently that you may have been in contact with the staff member who contracted the virus,” their release reads. “Contact could have been by passing in the hallways or in direct contact inside an exam room. There is no way to know who might have been in contact with this team member.”

Those who have visited one of the offices recently are encouraged to follow the advice given by the Centers for Disease Control.

Patient care has been suspended through April 7 and the company will begin limited curbside pick up for glasses, contact lenses and needed medication prescriptions using personal protective equipment. The schedule is:

• Monday, March 30 in Millington from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 31 in Covington from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 1 in Memphis from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Patients are asked to call 901-872-2020 when they arrive so the materials can be brought to the car. Adjustments, they said, would be made when the office reopened.

Appointments for routine care will resume, and be rescheduled, for after April 7. A member of the staff will contact those with appointments already scheduled.

Patients with infections, injuries or ocular medical emergencies, said West Tennessee Eye, can call 901-685-2200.

The West Tennessee staff member who tested positive was hospitalized.