‘No one was listening’: Long Covid patients struggle to get care for their symptoms

Thousands of people with long Covid have struggled to receive medical care for their symptoms. Many have found that even if they’re able to see a doctor, it can be difficult to be heard, and the best treatments remain unclear. Medical centers across the country are opening clinics specifically for people with lingering Covid symptoms, aiming to harness the expertise of specialists ranging from pulmonologists to physical therapists to neurologists. But many long Covid sufferers are located far from such a clinic, and the waitlist to be seen often is long. For example, the Cleveland Clinic’s post-Covid recovery center, reCOVer clinic, welcomed 113 patients in its first month, and as of mid-March, the clinic’s next available appointments were at the end of July. Penn Medicine’s Post-Covid Assessment and Recovery Clinic in Philadelphia has enrolled 458, with a three-month waitlist for new patients.