COVID-19 creates significant challenges for rehabilitation services around the world. Rehabilitation services are consistently among health services. Rehabilitation services are consistently among the health services most severely disrupted by the pandemic. At the same time, COVID-19 actually increases rehabilitation needs, both for patients who are seriously ill with the disease and for those who continue to suffer the long-term consequences of their illness.
The three-state area has been one of the most affected areas in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, an increasing number of people who became ill from the coronavirus continue to deal with problems related to their physical, mental and emotional health and quality of life. Sometimes referred to as “post-COVID syndrome”, this is a very real health problem. If you or a loved one has persistent symptoms after a known or suspected COVID-19 infection, the WMCHealth Post-COVID-19 Recovery Program may offer a path to a more complete recovery.
The program is located on the Westchester Medical Center campus in Valhalla, NY, and is easily accessible to residents of the Hudson Valley, New York City and Connecticut. WMCHealth is well prepared to offer recovery services after COVID-19.Our doctors and nurses gained significant experience treating patients. In addition, we were one of the first health systems in New York to launch both diagnostics and tests for antibodies against COVID-19.Our WMCHealth doctors who evaluate you will follow up with your regular doctor to coordinate your ongoing treatment and recovery plan. If you don't already have a primary care physician, we can help you establish an ongoing relationship with one of our providers.
There is increasing evidence to suggest that a COVID-19 infection may cause physical, mental and emotional symptoms that may persist long after the initial infection. WMCHealth has established a multidisciplinary program that offers a path to a more complete recovery for those who have ongoing health problems due to a COVID-19 infection. If you feel like you have ongoing health problems during your recovery from a COVID-19 infection, our team is here to help. Our WMCHealth doctors will evaluate your condition and follow up with your regular doctor to coordinate your ongoing treatment and recovery plan.
The clinic center, including the program coordinator, is located at the Harborview Medical Center Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic. Teams and services should be organized around the existing medical organization of services and areas of knowledge and skill that make sense within rehabilitation, not simply around the classification of illness, disability or intervention. The organization and implementation of rehabilitation services is chaotic, without a coherent strategy. COVID-19 has challenged all health services, including rehabilitation, and will continue to do so for at least a few years.
It could precipitate a much needed change in the care given to rehabilitation, leading to a much better organization and funding system to allow for a more efficient and effective use of resources that currently operate in a fragmented and inefficient manner. For example, partial rehabilitation is provided by many commissioned services, including specialized rehabilitation; 2 intermediate care; discharge with early support; discharge to be evaluated; rehabilitation; home care; single point of access; and services for disabled youth. It is a fundamental component of all cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and should be encouraged from the start. Other rehabilitation services will be needed to successfully identify and treat all problems.
In rehabilitation, as in all other aspects of life, the maxim “practice makes perfect” is valid, even if perfection is not achieved. As with acute health care, rehabilitation has no specific evidence for COVID-19, but, as with medical care, individual problems that are likely to occur after COVID-19 are fairly common and well studied. While the nature, extent and frequency of the problems are unknown, the numbers will far exceed the rehabilitation capacity currently being commissioned in the United Kingdom. To address the needs of people suffering from a PACS, the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, together with the Mount Sinai Post-COVID Care Center, has developed a novel rehabilitation program.
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