UAMS Health Opens Long COVID-19 Clinic in Fayetteville
| FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is offering a new clinic in Fayetteville for patients who still have symptoms of a COVID-19 infection three weeks or more following a positive COVID test.
Some people are reporting that they are continuing to experience COVID-19 symptoms weeks or months after their diagnosis. Commonly called long COVID, these symptoms — such as shortness of breath, muscle aches, cough, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, or difficulty concentrating — are either symptoms that people did not have prior to the virus or ones that have worsened since their diagnosis.
“Because the coronavirus can attack the lungs, heart, brain and other organs, there can be lasting internal damage,” said Sheena CarlLee, M.D., a UAMS internal medicine doctor and director of the UAMS Health Long COVID Clinic. “If these organs are damaged, it can significantly increase the risk of long-term health problems.”
CarlLee said the need for the clinic became apparent as she and her colleagues began to see former COVID patients return to the clinic with lingering symptoms from the virus. CarlLee also pointed out that even patients who had mild symptoms when they tested positive can develop other symptoms months later that may be related to their COVID-19 infection.
“We are seeing patients with a wide variety of symptoms that require a unique treatment regimen,” she said. “We treat the whole patient. Our long COVID clinic offers extensive evaluation from a team of students and trained health care providers from the disciplines of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and radiation sciences. Furthermore, the team works closely with researchers on the Little Rock campus to improve our knowledge and treatment options for patients affected by long COVID.”
The UAMS Health Long COVID Clinic is unique in that it is one of the only clinics in the state dedicated to treating long COVID, said CarlLee.
The clinic is located at the UAMS Health Neighborhood Clinic at 1125 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville. To schedule an appointment, please call 479-713-8701.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,047 students, 873 medical residents and fellows, and six dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
The UAMS Northwest Regional Campus includes 288 medical, pharmacy, nursing and health professions students, 64 medical and pharmacy residents, two sports medicine fellows, and 1,000 community-based faculty. The campus has nine clinics including a student-led clinic and physical, occupational and speech therapy. Faculty conduct research to reduce health disparities.
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