While COVID-19 is an immediate threat to someone’s health, the coronavirus disease may also cause a wide variety of long-term effects about which little is known.
Piedmont Atlanta Hospital in Buckhead is now home to a Pulmonary COVID-19 Recovery Clinic offering aid to patients who have recovered from the disease but are still experiencing 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, director of the Piedmont Pulmonary COVID-19 Recovery Clinic, in a press release. “These are patients who have cleared the initial infection, but are experiencing lingering residual issues.”
Jackson said in the release that doctors are seeing a wide range of long-term issues. Among the most common: pulmonary issues, such as shortness of breath and cough; neurological issues, such as dizziness and short-term memory problems; psychological issues, such as grief, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder; cardiac problems; renal issues; and nutrition issues.
The clinic, which operates under Piedmont’s Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Division, is set up to address all of those wide-ranging issues. The clinic opened in November on the hospital’s campus on Collier Road and is available to anyone who has recovered from COVID-19, including those who were not hospitalized.
For more information, see the clinic’s website here.
Piedmont Atlanta is the flagship hospital of the Piedmont Healthcare system. Last year, the hospital opened a new Peachtree Road tower early to handle the first surge of COVID-19 patients.