Rehabilitation hospital helping with long-term COVID effects

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- As we learn together day by day about how to combat the virus, recovered patients are still fighting everyday due to the unseen effects COVID is leaving behind.

COVID long-haulers are suffering from brain fog, dizziness, pain, and numbness months after testing positive and recovering.

The long-term symptoms of COVID-19 are leaving some people not feeling quite like themselves and one local rehabilitation hospital is helping life get a little bit easier for them.

“We have had great success in being able to treat post-COVID patients who may require additional therapy related to a decline or deconditioning in their pulmonary, their physical, as well as their cognitive needs,” said John Day, CEO of Rehabilitation Hospital of Northern Indiana.

Medical professionals are helping each individual with their unique symptoms.

“Each of our COVID patients, we establish an individualized care plan, '' Day said.

Some symptoms the clinic treats include; brain fog, headaches, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath, body aches, ongoing debilitating fatigue, loss of taste and smell and the list goes on.

“We’ve developed a treatment plan with our physical along with our behavioral health to help them recover their cognitive deficits,” said Day.

And, staff says they’re seeing results.

“According to scanning, our satisfaction results are in the 99 percentiles,” Day said.

These symptoms can last for days, weeks and even months affecting cognitive, behavioral and physical functions. They are treating patients with different types of treatments from therapy, respiratory exercises, assisting with activities of daily living and exercises.

“Just looking at these patients, they have come from leaps and bounds from when came in,” said Jenna Bell, director of compliance quality and infection prevention.

“The first post-COVID patient, first referral we got it was pretty scary, I'm not going to lie. We opened this hospital in the middle of the beginning of COVID,” Bell said.

And that first post-COVID person, changing the lives of everyone walking past those doors.

“It’s amazing to see the gratitude and the excitement of the patient of their improvement,” Bell said.