A clinic in the Twin Cities, part of a system that is a partnership between the U of M and Fairview, is starting its own post-COVID care model, specializing in those COVID-19 survivors (so-called “long haulers”) whose infection has resulted in worsening of their chronic conditions – or new viral-induced chronicities.
Two intensivists at the University of Minnesota Medical Center were in the process of creating the clinic for all critically ill patients when the pandemic arrived, and they realized it could help the many patients whose severe COVID-19 resulted in lingering health problems and related stress.
The goal is to set expectations for recovery for those patients and link them immediately with the therapy and resources they will need after their hospitalizations, said Dr. Sakina Naqvi, a U pulmonologist and critical care physician who co-created the clinic. “A lot of these patients have breathing issues, scarring of the windpipe, because they have been on ventilators for so long.”
