Piedmont’s Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Division has opened a comprehensive COVID-19 Recovery Clinic to help patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection, but continue to experience lingering symptoms.
“As we continue to learn more about COVID-19, we are starting to see a subgroup of patients we’re calling COVID long haulers,” said Dr. Jermaine Jackson, a specialist in Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonology and Director of the Piedmont Pulmonary COVID-19 Recovery Clinic. “These are patients who have cleared the initial infection, but are experiencing lingering residual issues.”
Those residual issues can impact multiple systems in the body. Dr. Jackson says the most common include pulmonary issues (such as shortness of breath and cough), neurological issues (such as dizziness and short-term memory problems), psychological issues (grief, anxiety, depression, PTSD), cardiac problems, renal issues and nutrition issues.
“Piedmont started this clinic to streamline care for patients who are experiencing a longer recovery from issues related to COVID-19,” said Dr. Jackson. “We knew it was important to provide a multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach to support these patients as they continue to recover.”
Piedmont Pulmonary COVID-19 Recovery Clinic helps patients manage persistent symptoms including shortness of breath and cough and can provide supplemental oxygen, pulmonary function support, diagnostic services, pulmonary rehabilitation and imaging, laboratory testing and connections to other specialists as needed.
“The mission of this Clinic is to offer COVID-19 patients a treatment pathway that is patient-centered and focused on managing common COVID-19 complications,” said Coy Lassiter, M.D., Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine with Piedmont Physician Enterprise. “We want our patients to know they have someone to see them through their journey of recovery from COVID-19.”
The Clinic started at Piedmont Atlanta in early November and is open to patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19, even if they had a mild-to-moderate infection that didn’t require hospitalization.
“We are proud to offer this Clinic to patients recovering from COVID-19,” said Charlie Brown, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Piedmont Physician Enterprise. “Not only does it offer convenience, bringing multiple specialties together under one roof, but it also offers knowledge, comfort and support.”
Information: www.piedmont.org/pulmonology/recovery-clinic.
About the Author
