Clinic Offers Specialized Care for Long COVID-19

The effort brings together a variety of clinical experts to help treat patients who face lingering symptoms of COVID-19.

Keck Medicine of USC has launched the COVID Recovery Clinic, a multidisciplinary program led by a core team of clinicians specializing in primary care, pulmonology and physical therapy to treat patients’ broad spectrum of persistent symptoms. The clinic opened in March 2022.

“Given the extremely high number of people experiencing lingering, and oftentimes quite disruptive symptoms, we need to find ways to help patients get back to functioning in their lives,” says Caitlin McAuley, DO, a family medicine physician with Keck Medicine and a specialist who works with long COVID-19 patients.

The clinic’s core team works together — simultaneously seeing patients in one visit if needed — to create a detailed workup while partnering with a nurse navigator to form an integrated, personalized treatment plan. Patients may be referred to other Keck Medicine specialists.

Keck Medicine is dedicated to learning all we can about long COVID-19 to improve treatment options so we can provide our patients with the care they need and deserve.

Caitlin McAuley, DO, family medicine physician, Keck Medicine of USC

An estimated 1 in 3 people continue experiencing symptoms for weeks or even months after they have shed the COVID-19 virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms may include cough, fatigue, breathlessness, joint pain, brain fog, blurred vision and anxiety.

“As an academic medical center, Keck Medicine is dedicated to learning all we can about long COVID-19 to improve treatment options so we can provide our patients with the care they need and deserve,” Dr. McAuley says.

Patients eligible for the COVID Recovery Clinic include those who have had a positive PCR test result for COVID-19 with symptoms persisting eight weeks or more after diagnosis.

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