COVID Recovery & Rehabilitation

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Our Patients, Our Priority

Recovering after COVID hospitalization can be difficult to navigate. Our team of rehabilitation experts provide a wide-range of specialized care to help patients regain their strength and mobility.

Samantha Lewis at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab for Long-Covid recovery

NYT: Cognitive Rehab: One Patient’s Painstaking Path Through Long Covid Therapy

Nearly two years into the pandemic, advances have been made in treating Covid itself, but long Covid — a constellation of lingering health problems that some patients experience — remains little understood.

Glen Ellyn dad has survived COVID-19, 9/11 and cancer

Chris Ward was diagnosed with COVID-19 the day before Thanksgiving. He had a headache, a rarity for him, and got a rapid test to rule out the virus before the holiday.

By the day after Thanksgiving, his heart was racing and he spiked a fever, so he went to the hospital.

He didn’t leave until February.

Mahmoud A. doing rehabilitation at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

COVID-19 'long-haulers' work to regain basic skills, overcome 'brain fog' months after diagnosis

Chicago's Shirley Ryan Ability Lab created a COVID-19 rehabilitation unit in April. And as the number of cases rise in the area, so does the unit's number of patients getting therapy for the long-term effects of the virus.

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How We Heal

After a prolonged hospital stay due to COVID-19, including time spent in an intensive care units (ICU), rehabilitation plays an important role in recovery. Interdisciplinary teams of experts work with patients, many formerly on ventilators, to address loss in strength and fine motor skills, as well as dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and ongoing shortness of breath. Our teams are also able to provide stroke and neurologic rehabilitation for patients who have had strokes related to COVID infections.

Dr. Leslie Rydberg, Physician of the COVID Recovery Unit

Post-COVID patients gain significantly in function and independence with our integrated rehabilitation.

Leslie Rydberg, MD Attending Physician
Henry and Monika Betts Medical Student Education Chair read more

Beyond the Illness

Patients recovering from COVID-19 face some obstacles as others who have been on ventilators, but often must also work on regaining strength. Our interdisciplinary rehabilitation approach can improve function and mobility after diagnosis.