BOISE, Idaho — Saint Alphonsus is opening up a clinic in Boise designed to treat only patients suffering from the coronavirus.
COVID-19 testing will not be available at the clinic, which is located just off Federal Way on West Judith Lane in the Boise Bench neighborhood. Instead, the facility will be open to people who have gotten a diagnosis of COVID-19 already, or those considered "persons under investigation" for having the virus.
"Patients who have received positive COVID-19 test results, are waiting for results of their tests or have recently been discharged from the hospital for COVID-19 can get non-emergent care at this clinic," Clinic Medical Director Dr. Louis Roser said. "We will be treating their COVID symptoms as well as any chronic conditions until their illness has resolved and they can continue getting care from their primary care provider."
The clinic is aimed at caring for coronavirus patients who have been discharged from the hospital, or are experiencing symptoms but are not sick enough to require hospitalization. So-called COVID-19 "long-haulers" - those who continue to deal with medical problems from the virus weeks or months after their infect - can also receive treatment there.
"The clinic will provide comprehensive COVID-related care, as well as manage patients' COVID symptoms and complications from the virus," Roser said.
The clinic employs a staff of primary care providers and physician assistants, with support from pulmonologists, infectious disease experts and cardiologists. It will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Patients at the COVID-19 clinic will be seen during scheduled appointments after receiving a referral from an emergency room or their primary care doctor.
In addition to in-person treatment, the clinic is also set up to provide telehealth appointments. Those patients who do visit the clinic in person are asked to check in by phone when they arrive. The patients are taken directly to exam rooms through a separate door.
At KTVB, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.ktvb.com/coronavirus.
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