The long COVID clinic at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu is closing today after a five-year run treating more than 500 patients.
Queen’s said patients at the Post-COVID Care Clinic, as it is formally called, would be transitioned back to their primary care providers. The clinic within the center’s Queen Emma Clinics treated 544 patients during operations, but stopped taking referrals on June 1.
Dr. Rick Bruno, Queen’s executive vice president of ambulatory planning &strategy, said in a statement,”Since opening in 2020 amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been our mission to provide expert care and support to patients living with long-term effects of the disease.”
“Our focus during this transition will be to ensure that the health care needs of our patients continue to be met,” Bruno said. “We are also working with patients to ensure a seamless transition of care back to their primary care provider.”
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser asked why the clinic was closing, but Queen’s did not provide an immediate response.
The closure is part of a national trend, with other specialized long COVID clinics also shutting down on the U.S. continent.
The University of North Carolina closed its COVID Recovery Clinic on June 16 due to the loss of multiple funding sources, according to a news release.
In March, the Trump administration cut funding for COVID-19 research studies funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, including studies of long COVID. That month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also closed down the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice as part of a reorganization.
For Hawaii residents like Bonnie Chan, it is yet another sign the world wants to move on without acknowledging the realities of their long-term illnesses.
“I just feel sad,” she said. “It’s kind of like being left on the side. Like OK, you’re on your own — when it’s not like we have the health to be on our own. We’re already vulnerable and compromised.”
Chan, 70, of Aiea, is still suffering from chronic symptoms today after contracting COVID in the summer of 2021. She continues to struggle with fatigue, brain fog, and shortness of breath.
The former music therapist can no longer hold a note while singing, and the condition forced her to retire early from a job that she enjoyed.
She began going to the Queen’s clinic in September 2021 seeking treatment, and was happy to find in Dr. Dominic Chow someone who acknowledged long COVID as a real condition and kept up on the latest research.
Chan said she was informed she would be able to see Chow for another six months, then transition back to her primary care provider.
Her journey toward healing has been an up-and-down ride, like a roller coaster, she said, with both highs and lows. The transition will be challenging, she said, as the condition is still poorly understood.
“Most physicians don’t necessarily have the time or energy to keep up on the research,” she said.
As many as 23 million Americans suffer from long COVID, according to NIH, leaving roughly 1 million out of the workforce at any given time.
Approximately six in every 100 people who get COVID-19 develop long COVID, according to the World Health Organization. The chance of developing it appears to be lower now than earlier in the pandemic, WHO said, but the virus continues to circulate widely.
In all, more than 200 different symptoms associated with long COVID have been reported. The most common ones include fatigue, breathlessness, and muscle or joint pain.
There are no proven drug treatments for the condition, although medications can alleviate symptoms.
Many long COVID sufferers, like Chan, are unable to return to work.
The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization in a 2022 study found long COVID patients were significantly more likely to be unemployed six to 12 months after infection.
As of December, however, many individuals with lingering symptoms have returned to work, according to UHERO researcher Ruben Juarez.
“That said, long COVID is still a major factor,” he said in an email. “About 11% of our survey respondents reported having long COVID at some point — higher than the 7-8% national estimate — and those who experienced it were, on average, unemployed for about a month longer than others.”
He continued with, “So while many have recovered, long COVID continues to leave a measurable imprint on our labor force.”
There is still an urgent need for continued monitoring and support, he said, because the impacts are still very real.
Raechelle “Rae” Villanueva, 43, of Kaimuki, is still desperately seeking treatment for her long COVID after three years.
The former elementary school teacher and avid runner says long COVID mainly affected her nervous system, leaving her with fatigue, chronic pain, and migraines. She still manages to teach part time.
She visited Queen’s long COVID clinic only once after being on a long wait list, and was referred to a neurologist. It took her awhile to find a primary care physician that understood long COVID, but she says overall, awareness is growing.
Ultimately, she found a naturopath to be the most helpful.
The challenge for her is that HMSA, her health insurance provider, will not cover naturopathic care nor other treatments she is seeking specifically for the condition of long COVID.
“So many of us are struggling to get access to health care because of health insurance,” she said. “The health insurance process has been very difficult. It’s expensive. Why can’t we qualify under long COVID? Help us get the help we need.”
She has seen multiple specialists, but says they do not always agree on what to do, which has led her down some frustrating paths. While the world is eager to put COVID behind it, she and other long COVID sufferers want to move on, too.
“We really want to move on from this,” she said. “Help us get the treatment.”
Source: The Garden Island