Flowers Hospital Treats Over 500 Patients with Monoclonal Antibodies

2/8/2021

Flowers Hospital has now treated more than 500 patients with monoclonal antibodies to lessen the severity of COVID-19. Monoclonal antibody therapy is used to treat patients with COVID-19 symptoms who are at high risk of developing severe and life-threatening illness. The antibody infusion may also reduce the severity of COVID-19 and aid in keeping high risk patients out of the hospital.

Flowers Hospital staff has treated patients from around the tri-state area and says multiple hospital departments, such as pharmacy, medical outpatient, outpatient surgery, the emergency department, cath lab, and wound care, have come together to be able to offer the treatment to more people in an effort to help the Wiregrass and outlying communities fight the COVID pandemic.

“It’s truly been a team effort. Departments and staff from around the hospital have volunteered to help or have sent equipment to be used,” said Dawn Cleveland, RN, who has been a lead staff member in organizing the effort. “We’ve seen patients travel from different parts of Alabama, Georgia and Florida to get the infusions, and we’ve had former nurses who have kept their licenses up to date join our staff so we can help more people in our area.”

This antibody infusion is administered at the hospital, but it is not for people who are already in the hospital because of their COVID-19 symptoms. In order to determine qualification, it must be prescribed and scheduled by a patient’s primary care physician or an infectious disease physician. The infusion is a one-time treatment and takes about three hours from start to finish.

“Patients must test positive and then their physician will coordinate with our pharmacy. The infusion is provided on an outpatient basis only, and patients need to be well enough to recover at home,” said Joe Dalton, Flowers Hospital’s pharmacy director.

To see if monoclonal antibody therapy is right for you, talk to your primary care provider.

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