'Don't have any options': Carlisle woman calling for Hamilton post-COVID clinic
A Carlisle woman is calling on the province to create a specific clinic for post-COVID care in Hamilton.
Cheryl Stookes was hospitalized with COVID-19 in January for several days and later readmitted to hospital in May, when she diagnosed with long COVID. She received a referral to the Halton Post COVID-19 Syndrome Clinic in Oakville from her family doctor but was turned away because she is not a Halton Region resident.
That's when she learned there is no Hamilton-specific clinic for long COVID sufferers.
Patients in Hamilton who have long COVID, they really don't have any options right now," Stookes said, adding she is fortunate to have private health benefits through her employer. I'm kind of piecemealing my private insurance coverage to get the support I need outside of any dedicated facility."
Stookes spoke to some contacts with St. Joseph's Healthcare and was told Hamilton has been waiting for over a year for a funding decision from the Ministry of Health on a post-COVID clinic.
In a statement, Hamilton Health Sciences confirmed it does not have a dedicated post-COVID care clinic."
Individuals with COVID requiring hospitalization are admitted to and cared for in our acute, in-patient COVID unit," spokesperson Lillian Badzioch said. Treatment, including rehabilitative services following the acute stage of illness, is based on a patient's specific health care needs.
We continue to work with health-care partners in the region to monitor the needs of our patient population and ensure appropriate, balanced access to available services."
HHS directed further questions about dedicated post-COVID services and outpatient clinics to the Ministry of Health.
In an email, spokesperson Bill Campbell said health ministry is committed to supporting patients with long-term COVID-19 symptoms," and is working to further understand the scope, scale, and impacts of post COVID-19 condition, and explore options for responsive, evidence-based management and treatment."
Campbell said in working with the ministry, hospitals can fund services in their areas, such as dedicated post COVID-19 clinics, through their global budgets. He said as the ministry continues to gather information "there will be consideration of opportunities to address any regional gaps in services and promote collaboration to meet local demands."
While her health has been improving, in part due to her private insurance care, many challenges remain - and Stookes knows she is far from alone.
There are patients in need," she said. Let's go. What are we doing for Hamilton residents?"
Stookes' story - and a lack of specific care for long COVID - is something Flamborough's Ruth Castellanos is all too familiar with.
Castellanos has been dealing with symptoms of long COVID since 2020 and still suffers from brain fog, among a litany of other symptoms.
"It concerns me how many people cannot get help here in Hamilton, especially because the City of Hamilton is so big," she said. Over 500,000 people and there's nothing."
Castellanos has had to piece together her treatment and said she was lucky to have savings to pay out of pocket to seek treatment out of country.
However, she is still ill and unable to go back to her full-time job.
Every day I have symptoms. They vary, not only daily, but even throughout the day," she said. I'm not even back to 50 per cent of who I was or who I used to be. It's completely changed my life."
Castellanos said she thinks a dedicated post-COVID clinic in Hamilton would be great, but isn't holding her breath.
In the interim she said there needs to be greater education of doctors about long COVID symptoms and care.
If every family doctor got something in their hands that said exactly what long COVID is and what tests to do, right away they could help."
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After seeing an open letter posted by Cheryl Stookes on LinkedIn about the lack of post-COVID clinics in Hamilton, the Review dug into the issue to find out how residents were accessing care.