PBS A UW-Medicine clinic is one of the few that provides treatment and research on the chronic illness, but faces new federal funding challenges. ile many Washingtonians have moved on from the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains a lingering, increasingly acute concern for people throughout the region living with post-viral symptoms – and the providers working to meet their needs with limited resources, in a clinical landscape where few clinicians are well-educated on how to diagnose and treat chronic, poorly understood conditions like Long COVID.
In September 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allocated major grant funding to 12 Long COVID clinics across the country. Among the institutions to receive funding was the University of Washington Medicine’s Long COVID clinic, dedicated to expanding access to Long COVID treatment across the state, often through training physicians to respond to it more appropriately. But the situation of Long COVID in the region remains complex, said UW Medicine’s Dr. Janna L. Friedly, with clinics scarce and under-funded even in cities like Seattle with otherwise robust medical infrastructure.