Published: Monday, April 19, 2021
LANSING, MI – Sparrow has greatly expanded its delivery of monoclonal antibody treatment to the community, shifting from a few dozen treatments a week to as many as 360 infusions weekly to combat the COVID-19 virus.
The move coincides with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s call for increased antibody infusions and the FDA’s emergency use authorization for use of monoclonal antibodies to treat high-risk mild to moderate COVID-19 patients who meet very specific criteria. Monoclonal treatment has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by 87 percent.
As Sparrow emphasizes vaccinations as well as testing for the COVID virus, monoclonal treatment is one of the most important mitigation strategies for use against COVID. Sparrow’s goal is to aggressively treat those who qualify for the treatment.
Monoclonal treatment is an outpatient therapy conducted intravenously at Sparrow’s Specialty Infusion Clinic at the Sparrow St. Lawrence Campus, 1210 W. Saginaw, Lansing; at Sparrow Carson Hospital; and Sparrow Ionia Hospital. The therapy begins April 27 at Sparrow Clinton and Sparrow Eaton. Patients must check with their doctor to see if they are eligible and receive a physician’s order in order to receive the treatment.
Sparrow doubled its infusion treatments last week and now has the ability to deliver a maximum of 60 a day across the health system. Sparrow is also currently working to develop a process to deliver and infuse those patients who are homebound, unable to access transportation and meet the eligibility criteria.
For more information, go to Sparrow.org/COVIDtreatment.
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Sparrow Health System is Mid-Michigan’s premier healthcare organization and includes hospitals in Lansing, Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia and St. Johns, as well as Sparrow Specialty Hospital, Physicians Health Plan, Sparrow Care Network, Sparrow Medical Group and the Michigan Athletic Club. Sparrow is affiliated with Michigan Medicine through the Sparrow Children’s Center and with Michigan State University’s three human health colleges. Through these partnerships and the dedication of our 10,000 caregivers, Sparrow pursues a vision to be nationally recognized as a leader in quality and patient experience. For more information, visit Sparrow.org.