Carthage, IL – Tuesday, December 08, 2020 – Memorial Hospital in Carthage, IL., has implemented a cutting edge pharmaceutical treatment for patients who are suffering from COVID-19. This medicine, Olumiant, also known as Baricitinib is a tablet medication administered to some hospitalized COVID-19 patients, previously manufactured to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Olumiant has recently been authorized to also effectively treat some of the more severe symptoms of COVID-19, as it is a janus kinase inhibitor, which blocks the activity of one or more of a specific family of enzymes, interfering with the pathway that leads to inflammation.
The clinical professionals at Memorial Hospital have witnessed incredible patient outcomes from implementing the treatment plan of Olumiant in conjunction with Remdesivir infusions. Olumiant is also the first medication that can be used to treat patients as young as two years old, requiring supplemental oxygen.
In addition to Olumiant and Remdesivir, Memorial Hospital also administers Bamlanivimab, a medication that can be given on an outpatient basis to COVID-19 patients. Bamlanivimab is given early after a COVID-19 diagnosis to help prevent hospitalization in patients at high risk of complications of COVID-19. Clinical staff have witnessed very good outcomes from this preventative treatment.
Nancy Huls, Director of Integrity and Medical Staff Services at Memorial Hospital, battled COVID-19 herself, and received the Bamlanivimab treatment at Memorial Hospital. Now fully recovered from COVID-19, Nancy states, “It was absolutely amazing. As a healthcare professional, I may be a bit more skeptical than most regarding medications and treatments, especially for a disease that is still very new to us. However, less than 24 hours after receiving the Bamlanivimab treatment, I was absolutely amazed by how much better I felt. I truly believe that this medication prevented me from becoming even sicker and possibly even hospitalized.”
Crystal Huls, Director of Pharmacy at Memorial Hospital, states, “Memorial Hospital has been proactive in maintaining the most cutting edge and highest quality therapy options available to treat our patients. Dr. Victoria Popela Chief Medical Officer and Hospitalist at Memorial Hospital, has spent countless hours keeping up with the continuously changing guidelines to ensure our patients have the absolute best care available.”
Memorial Hospital would like to remind the community to continue to take precautions in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Please continue to wear a mask in public places and practice social distancing whenever possible. Individuals should call Memorial Hospital’s Illness Clinic at (217) 357-0617 if they think that they may have been exposed to COVID-19 or if they are experiencing ANY symptoms related to COVID-19, which include mild to severe respiratory illness with fever or chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of sense of taste and/or smell, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
Memorial Hospital is a 501(c)(3), non-profit critical access hospital, which employs over 250 individuals, offers emergency, surgical, imaging (x-ray), laboratory, obstetrics, seven clinics throughout the region, specialty clinics, and more. Memorial Hospital has served the residents of Hancock County and surrounding areas since 1950. For more information, find us on the web at www.mhtlc.org