A new partnership through Heritage Valley Health System and UPMC will make an outpatient COVID-19 treatment more widely available to area patients who have contracted the disease.
Called monoclonal antibody treatment, it s given through a one-time intravenous infusion which significantly reduces the risk of death or the need for hospitalization in patients newly diagnosed with COVID-19. While both health systems carry the medication, only UPMC has existing infusion centers designated for the treatment. By pooling their supply of antibodies, both UPMC and Heritage Valley patients can use those centers to receive care. When monoclonal antibodies became available in December, we built an infrastructure.to create different ways to deliver the actual therapy, said Dr. Donald M. Yealy, the chief medical officer at UPMC. But in the region not everyone has those resources, and Heritage Valley reached back to us recently saying, Hey, this really works well for us and ou
For most decisions in life, it s smart to be thoughtful clever, even, to sit and stir, mull things over, or really take time to plan and ponder.
But the continuing spread of COVID-19 has put the decision to get vaccinated on a clock, and local and national leaders say it s running out.
This past week President Joe Biden announced his goal to at least partially vaccinate 70% of U.S. adults by July 4. With more than 56% of the population already there, reeling in another 14% over two months seems a simple task. However, a large amount of vaccine hesitation is making things difficult, and Beaver County is at its center.