Atrium Health expands COVID monoclonal antibody treatment sites in Charlotte area
Atrium Health is now expanding access to COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatments in the greater Charlotte area.
The hospital system is adding two locations for the treatment — now providing monoclonal antibody treatments at three facilities in the Charlotte region.
Monoclonal antibodies are created by replicating antibodies from people who have recovered from COVID-19. One study showed the treatment could reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 70% or more, according to Atrium.
Atrium’s expansion is part of a partnership with both the state and U.S. departments of Health and Human Services.
The expansion comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge in Mecklenburg County and the state, largely fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
Both of Charlotte’s hospital systems, Atrium Health and Novant Health, have been providing the treatment since December 2020.
The medicine is free, and costs for the infusion process will be billed to insurance, Atrium Health infectious disease physician Dr. Lisa Davidson said. That cost is typically covered by insurance, and Atrium Health has plans set up for people without insurance as well, she said.
Earlier this week, StarMed Healthcare announced it would begin providing a monoclonal antibody therapy starting Thursday at 491 N. Wendover Road.
The Atrium Health monoclonal antibody treatment is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The locations of the facilities providing the treatments was not publicly announced.
To confirm eligibility for the treatment, patients should contact their Atrium Health primary care physician or call 704-468-8888.
Novant treatments
Novant Health offers the outpatient monoclonal antibody treatments at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, along with five other locations across the state.
Novant Health can also administer the treatment in emergency departments in some cases. But most patients will need to access the treatment at an outpatient infusion center after receiving a referral from their primary care physician.
Anyone with mild COVID-19 symptoms should talk to their physician about whether they qualify for the treatment, according to Novant.
Novant Health has been administering over a hundred doses of the treatment per week in August and has administered the treatments to more than 1,300 patients since December, according to Novant spokeswoman Megan Rivers.
How the treatment helps
The one-time monoclonal antibody treatment is aimed at people who recently tested positive for COVID-19 and are at high risk for developing severe COVID-19 illness, or people who are unvaccinated and have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus, according to Atrium.
The treatment is highly effective in preventing symptoms from worsening if administered withing the first week of COVID-19 symptoms, according to Atrium.
“The main benefit of this therapy is keeping people out of the emergency room, out of the hospital,” Davidson said.
She also had emphasized in a statement that vaccines are still the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 1:31 PM.
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