NCCC’s COVID-19 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS + POLICY

Oct 1

Due to the ultra contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 causing greater risk to our community and due to an increasing number of positive cases (even among vaccinated individuals), as well as the lagging percentage of Americans (and Tennesseans) who are fully vaccinated, we are reinstating stricter Covid-19 guidelines in order to keep our staff, clients, and our greater Nashville community safe. If you’re not yet vaccinated, NOW is the time! Find where you can receive your free COVID-19 vaccination here. Vaccinations are our best way to beat this virus and to protect the vulnerable among us. Additionally, a large portion of our clients are children and not yet eligible for vaccination, so we must be vigilant and wise in our practices. At NCCC, we seek to promote a social norm of vaccination and mask wearing; we seek to model behavior that is in the service of communal health; we seek to demonstrate social solidarity. We’re in this together.

Effective Monday, August 9, 2021 we ask all staff, clients, and other guests of Nashville Collaborative Counseling Center to adhere to the following COVID-19 guidelines:

All in-person clients will need to review and submit NCCC’s updated COVID-19 consent form, which can be found by signing into your Client Portal here.
All in-person clients will need to complete a Covid Screening before their appointment. This will be sent to clients the day before their appointment via their Client Portal. When a client arrives for their in-person appointment, the door to NCCC’s office will remain locked and they will need to call 615-988-4763, ext. 3 to let the receptionist know they’ve arrived. Receptionist will then ensure the client’s COVID screening has been completed and will proceed with greeting the client at the door, taking their temperature, and ensuring proper mask-wearing while in the office. If the client’s COVID-screening has not been completed, the receptionist will conduct the screening over the phone and then save in their client chart. Therapists will be notified when their client is ready to be seen.
An NCCC employee will take both employees’ and guests’ temperatures upon arrival at the office. If someone’s temperature is above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, they will be asked to leave. If they are a client, their appointment can be rescheduled at no charge OR moved to telehealth. In order to resume in-person sessions after having a higher than 100.4 temperature, the client must present a negative COVID-19 test. If they are an employee, the employee should inform their Team Lead and the Clinical Director. The employee is then responsible for rescheduling their client’s appointment to telehealth and must present a negative COVID-19 test in order to resume in-person services.
Masks must be worn for all in-person sessions, both in communal spaces, as well as in the session with the therapist. This policy is regardless of vaccination status.
Masks must be worn in the office at all times by both employees and clients or business guests, regardless of vaccination status.
All staff, clients, and guests are asked to practice social distancing when in larger groups. Best practice, for the time being, is to meet online. All staff and guests are asked to move large, in-person group events, trainings, retreats, and meetings to online platforms. (Large is more than 6-8 people.)
All employees of NCCC must provide proof of vaccination or a medical/religious exemption as outlined by the EEOC by September 14, 2021. If an employee chooses not to provide proof of vaccination, NCCC will require the employee to have a weekly COVID test performed (paid for by NCCC) with a result of negative before the employee is allowed to work in the office. It is the employee’s right to refuse to share vaccination status and/or to be tested, in which case the employee will commit to only working from home via telehealth. Leadership of NCCC will provide proof of vaccination by August 16, 2021.