March 17, 2020 / Maria Castellucci and Harris Meyer
Beginning Tuesday, staff at Indiana University Health Physicians are calling patients with scheduled appointments for routine care to come in at a later date, many being scheduled six weeks out.
The decision is one of many IU Health Physicians has made over the last 10 days to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus and protect its workforce, which consists of 200 primary-care and 1,700 specialty physicians spread across over 150 ambulatory locations in Indiana. 
“The key message to our patients is we are not closing down, we are here for you, but if you don’t have to be here, we want to protect you and your families and our workforce by not having unnecessary exposure,” said Brian Kremer, chief operating officer of IU Health Physicians.
IU Health Physicians is one of many physician practices taking preventive steps to limit the exposure of the coronavirus in their communities and workforce while at the same time taking care of patients who continue to need routine care.
“We are not turning anyone away who has a need or desire to be seen at this time,” said Dr. Mia Taormina, infectious disease department chair at Illinois-based DuPage Medical Group, which has about 120 locations.