Critical Illness and COVID-19 Survivorship Program

Critical Illness and COVID-19 Recovery

Caring for patients and improving health after serious illness

Patients who have survived COVID-19 of any severity, as well as patients who have been in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for any reason, often have continued difficulty with recovery and persistent symptoms long after their initial illness. Our Critical Illness and COVID-19 Survivorship Program exists to help all patients who have had COVID-19 of any severity, as well as survivors of other causes of critical illness, recover and live their best lives.

We have developed an integrated team of specialists so that patient care is convenient, coordinated, and focused on the priorities of our patients and families. Our team includes specialists with expertise in lung diseases and critical illness (pulmonary and critical care medicine), brain and nerve diseases (neurologists), mental health (psychiatrist), aging and frailty (geriatricians), physical and occupational therapy, medications (pharmacists), and social work. We have also partnered with programs around the country to discuss the best approaches to care and develop a network for learning how to care for patients after COVID and the ICU.

Recovery After COVID-19

Following COVID-19, patients may experience persistent or new, troubling symptoms. These symptoms may include discomfort when breathing, profound fatigue, muscle weakness, fast heart rate, dizziness, problems with thinking and memory, continued loss of or changes in smell and taste, painful neuropathy, chest pain, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Additionally, there are many other symptoms that are now being recognized after COVID-19 infection, which we are learning about every day from our patients, our international collaborators, and the latest research.

COVID-19 Recovery Study

National Institutes of Health (NIH) COVID-19 Recovery Study aims to understand recovery after COVID-19 and ultimately discover the causes of long COVID. To inquire about the NIH COVID-19 Recovery Study, please email our Clinical Research Center or call 617-975-7600. Any person who is currently experiencing COVID-19, or has had COVID-19 previously and is experiencing persistent symptoms, is welcome to contact us.

Recovery After Critical Illness

Patients who have been in the intensive care unit, whether due to COVID-19 or any other cause, face a unique set of challenges in their recovery. The group of impairments after an ICU stay has been termed Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS), and includes difficulty with thinking and memory, mental health, and physical abilities. Our team are experts in treating PICS and our program is designed to help patients' recovery from the ICU.

How To Make an Appointment

This program is for post-ICU patients and those experiencing persistent COVID-19 symptoms. If you suspect you have COVID-19 or are currently experiencing symptoms, please contact your physician directly.

We evaluate patients after COVID-19 or after a stay in an ICU at an initial one-hour telemedicine (telephone or video) visit to determine their recovery needs and personal goals.

For clinical referrals and scheduling, please call 617-667-5864.
If you have not been seen as a patient at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the past, please call 617-754-8240 first to be registered as a patient.

Long COVID Newsletter

As we continue to learn more about Long COVID, our program wanted to create a place to provide updates and share information with our patients and the medical community, which led us to create our Long COVID newsletter. Editions will be shared quarterly and the content includes messages from our care team, information about open research studies and new findings, staff profiles, patient resources, and more.

Recent Newsletters

Resources for Patients

Long COVID Wellness Program

Breathing Exercises and Rehabilitation (offered by BIDMC's Sadhguru Center)

Long-Haul COVID & Behavioral Health Resources

Our multidisciplinary team, led by social worker Jaclyn French, has developed behavioral health recommendations for those experiencing long-haul COVID:

News

Harvard Magazine: Contending with Long Covid (June 10, 2021)
Harvard Gazette: A Q&A with Jason Maley, MD (April 13, 2021)
Boston Globe: Fatigue, Headaches, and Worse: For Some, Neurologic Symptoms are Lingering After COVID (April 12, 2021)
NHPR: Long Haulers - What We Know, And Don't Know, About COVID-19 Recovery (January 4, 2021)
WCVB Channel 5: Specialized Boston Clinics Treat Long-Haul COVID-19 Patients (April 5, 2021)
WBUR: What Specialized Clinics May Do for Long COVID, as Many Questions Remain (November 23, 2021)

Webinars

Centers for Disease Control: Evaluating and Supporting Patients Presenting With Fatigue Following COVID-19 (September 30, 2021)
Dartmouth Grand Rounds: Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19: Lessons in Clinical Care and Health Care Delivery Care (July 9, 2021)
Harvard Combined Rounds: Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (May 6, 2021)

Publications

Herrera JE, Niehaus WN, Whiteson J, Azola A, Baratta JM, Fleming TK, Kim SY, Naqvi H, Sampsel S, Silver JK, Gutierrez MV, Maley J, Herman E, Abramoff B. Multidisciplinary collaborative consensus guidance statement on the assessment and treatment of fatigue in postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) patients. PM R. 2021 09; 13(9):1027-1043. PMID: 34346558.

Maley JH, Sampsel S, Abramoff BA, Herman E, Neerukonda KV, Mikkelsen ME. Consensus methodology for the development of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 guidance statements. PM R. 2021 09; 13(9):1021-1026. PMID: 34240583.

LaSalvia E, Maley JH, Keshavan MS. Psychiatric Times. Developing a Collaborative Approach to Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. 2021; 38(7)

Maley JH, Mikkelsen ME. The Intersection of Health and Critical Illness: Preservation and Restoration. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021 06 15; 203(12):1451-1453. PMID: 33636093.

Maley JH, Alba GA, Barry JT, Bartels MN, Fleming TK, Oleson CV, Rydberg L, Sampsel S, Silver JK, Sipes S, Verduzco Gutierrez M, Wood J, Zibrak JD, Whiteson J. Multi-Disciplinary Collaborative Consensus Guidance Statement on the Assessment and Treatment of Breathing Discomfort and Respiratory Sequelae in Patients with Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC). PM&R. 2021 11.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does our initial visit include?

Assessment of ongoing symptoms after illness
Standardized questions for thinking and memory, mental health, and physical abilities
Standardized questions for breathing discomfort or shortness of breath
Pulmonary function screening
In depth discussion of the existing knowledge based on latest research about post-COVID or post-ICU
Establish treatment plan to include other members of team, based on our assessment and ongoing symptoms
Provide additional educational resources and programs to supplement care, such as breathing exercises and coaching, approaches to fatigue, loss of smell, sleeplessness, and other common symptoms
Our nurse coordinator will initially meet with most patients by telephone to have a comprehensive discussion of symptoms and connect patients with expert clinicians on our team

At the end of this initial visit, we will arrange for additional meetings with experts within our team depending on each patient's individual needs and goals.

When should I be seen, or refer my patient to be seen, in this clinic?

We welcome patients with COVID-19 of any severity who continue to have persistent symptoms or impairments 6-8 weeks after their initial illness. For ICU survivors, we routinely schedule patients leaving the BIDMC ICU to be seen in our clinic. Other patients who have survived an ICU stay and are experiencing difficulty in their recovery are welcome to schedule an appointment with our program.

Physicians can also refer patients who have persistent symptoms after COVID-19 that are currently unexplained or have not been responsive to initial treatment.

Meet Our Team

Our multidisciplinary team collaborates across specialties to provide a full spectrum of care and support based on each patient's individual needs. Our physicians include: