Post-Acute COVID-19 Program

What is Post-Acute COVID-19? 

COVID-19 affects each individual differently. While most people who get COVID-19 recover within 4 weeks, others have long lasting symptoms. Sometimes people with mild symptoms start to get better and then feel worse weeks or months later.  

People who have symptoms that continue, get worse, or come back 8 – 12 weeks after their initial infection that are not explained by any other condition are diagnosed with post-acute COVID-19. Post-acute COVID-19 is also called long COVID or post-COVID-19 syndrome. It usually presents with clusters of symptoms, often overlapping, which can fluctuate and change over time and can affect any system in the body. Symptoms of post-acute COVID-19 often include:

  • tiredness that doesn’t go away and is worse than a person’s normal level of fatigue
  • changes in the ability to think, also called brain fog
  • difficulty breathing
  • problems sleeping

Conditions like post-acute COVID-19 have been shown with other viruses such as influenza and SARS. We do not know why some people are more affected by viruses than others. 

What we offer 

St. Joseph’s Post-Acute COVID-19 Program helps patients in their COVID-19 recovery journey. Our program provides individualized assessment of patients’ symptoms and customizes treatment and rehabilitation to meet each person’s needs. Our team includes physicians from respirology, internal medicine and infectious diseases, a nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech-language pathologist and a social worker. Learn more in our What to Expect section. 

Location – one service on two sites

Patients of St. Joseph’s Post-Acute COVID-19 Program are seen in two locations, depending on their needs. All patients are medically reviewed at the St. Joseph’s Hospital site.  Those who may benefit from rehabilitation are also seen at Parkwood Institute. We are one service on two sites. The program team works together with each patient to plan and coordinate their care throughout their recovery journey. 
 

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