Longmont residents can now get access to COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy at UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont and at the Centura Health facility in Frederick.
Monoclonal antibody therapy is available at the Centura Emergency & Urgent Care Indian Peaks location, 4943 State Highway 52, Suite 100 in Frederick, said Meredith Ritchie, spokeswoman for Centura.
The Indian Peaks facility began monoclonal therapy about three weeks ago, delivering about 30 doses a week, Ritchie said. Indian Peaks can be reached at 303-925-4840.
Richie gave no indication that Longmont United Hospital — which is part of the Centura Health system — will offer the same therapy.
UCHealth on Wednesday announced that a new COVID-19 treatment center recently opened at the UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland to offer outpatient monoclonal antibody treatment. The treatment is for people who have recently been diagnosed with COVID-19, have mild symptoms, are at high risk for getting a severe infection, are not yet hospitalized and have symptoms that started in the past 10 days, according to a UCHealth news release.
Potential patients include people 65-years-old or older, pregnant women, those who are obese or overweight and people with certain underlying medican conditions like cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, weakend immune systems, mental health conditions, lung, kidney or liver disease and more, the news release states.
Monoclonal antibody treatment is designed to lessen the severity of COVID-19 and prevent hospitalization, the news release states.
UCHealth has been administering treatments at a number of facilities throughout the state for several months, including at UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont and UCHealth Broomfield Hospital, said UCHealth spokeswoman Kelly Tracer via email. The treatments are given based on appointments or a referral, Tracer said.
The special treatment offered at MCR is FEMA-funded and is coordinated by the Colorado State Unified Coordination Center and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at the request of Gov. Jared Polis, the news release said.
UCHealth has provided monoclonal antibody therapy for about one year in other locations around the state. The new treatment center at MCR, which is able to treat about 80 patients a day if needed, recently opened following nearly three months of rising COVID-19 hospitalizations in the region as well as rapidly increasing use of monoclonal antibody therapy, the news release states.
Since March, UCHealth has administered more than 5,570 treatments statewide. About 44% of those patients — about 2,460 — were treated in November alone as this therapy has become a key tool in the fight against COVID-19, the news release said.
Appointments are required at all UCHealth monoclonal antibody therapy treatment sites. Patients can schedule a visit with UCHealth Virtual Urgent Care to determine if they are eligible for the treatment.
