Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick said Monday it developed a specialized COVID-19 initiative to provide comprehensive, multi-specialty treatment for individuals previously diagnosed, and that tested positive, with the virus.

The COVID-19 Recovery Program will serve as a community-based support system and resource by providing medical care to patients as they deal with persistent symptom,  such as shortness of breath, lack of energy, chest pain, cough, leg swelling, stomach pain and weight loss.

The goal is to leverage Saint Peter’s clinical expertise, working closely with community physicians and specialists, to manage the unique needs of post-COVID-19 patients in their journey to recovery. Saint Peter’s physicians will work collaboratively with primary care physicians and specialists in the community to develop individualized treatment plans so that patients can achieve optimal health, with the goal of long-term recovery.

“We remain vigilant in evaluating the long-term impact of COVID-19, a syndrome that still has many unknowns. While some patients feel better sooner, there are others that are experiencing lasting symptoms,” said Dr. Amar Bukhari, chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Saint Peter’s. “To complicate matters, these symptoms can vary in intensity and duration from patient to patient; what we’ve noticed is that no two cases present the same.”

Saint Peter’s COVID-19 Recovery Program is modeled on a continuum of care that begins with primary care and navigates patients to the specific specialiss that may be needed, depending on their symptoms.

Program specialists participating in Saint Peter’s COVID-19 Recovery Program will include pulmonologists, cardiologists, neurologists and others, depending on the individual health issues.

Initial patient contact will be by telemedicine after which any appropriate labs or tests will be ordered. Subsequent treatment and follow-up will be in-person or virtual and determined on a case-by-case basis.Timely documentation will be sent to the patient’s existing health care provider.

Patients participating in the COVID-19 Recovery Program can donate plasma, further promoting COVID-19 medical research, through the Mayo Clinic’s Convalescent Plasma Therapy Research program, which is being conducted at 2,637 sites nationwide. Convalescent blood plasma donations are currently being accepted through the New York Blood Center and American Red Cross.