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In many ways, our COVID Clinic exemplifies the best qualities UVA Health has to offer: innovative thinking, thoughtful responsiveness, operational flexibility, dedicated teamwork, and unwavering service to team member and public health. The clinic opened on March 10, 2020, just three days after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Virginia. Since then, the scope of its services has continuously evolved from a diagnostic testing site to its current focus on providing therapies to prevent and treat COVID-19. 

The COVID Clinic is preparing the enter a new phase of its mission. It will soon move to a new location, adopt a new name, and no longer perform COVID-19 testing. Below are the details of the coming changes as well as information you need to know about the history of this ground-breaking clinic. 

What is the COVID Clinic’s new name?

The COVID Clinic will close in its current West Complex location on Thursday, July 14. On Monday, July 18, the clinic will begin operating under a new name, the COVID and Special Pathogens Clinic. 

Where is it moving?

The clinic will be located at 1222 Jefferson Park Avenue in Charlottesville in the ground-floor space formerly occupied by Employee Health.

How many locations has the COVID Clinic occupied?

The Jefferson Park Avenue location will be the third home of the clinic. When it opened in March 2020, through the generous support of the Children’s Hospital, the clinic was housed in the Teen Health space in the Battle Building. In November 2020, it relocated to its current location in the West Complex.

What services does the COVID Clinic provide?

In its new location, the clinic will provide preventative and therapeutic infusion and injections, and post-COVID provider evaluation visits. Currently, the clinic provides preventative EVUSHELD and offers monoclonal antibody treatment and anti-viral therapies for COVID-19. Patient safety remains of utmost importance, and this new location will allow scheduling of preventative visits separately from those with suspected or known COVID-19 infection referred for treatment.

What are the clinic’s hours of operation?

The COVID Clinic is open to team members and the community by appointment only. No walk-ins are allowed. Team members can schedule an appointment by calling 434.982.6843; community members need a provider referral to access the clinic. The clinic is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

What’s so significant about the COVID Clinic?

• Ground-breaker | The COVID Clinic was the first in Virginia to offer COVID-19 testing in an outpatient setting and one of the first outpatient facilities to offer monoclonal antibody infusion therapy to treat patients with active COVID-19.
• Learning-curve leader | The COVID Clinic team drove the protocols and algorithms that were later scaled for testing of pre-procedural and surgery patients. The COVID Clinic has also had a large impact on developing standardized work for medical center ambulatory settings, diagnostic, and treatment resources for providers, as well as educational materials for patients. As the pandemic evolves and practice adjustments are needed, the COVID Clinic continues to serve as a steadfast resource for all.
• Therapy champion | The clinic has also helped to support COVID related research, including participation as a study location for a monoclonal antibody trial, led by site investigator Dr. William Petri: REGEN-COV Antibody Combination and Outcomes in Outpatients with Covid-19 | NEJM. As soon as monoclonal antibody treatments received emergency use authorization from the FDA, the clinic became one of the few sites in Virginia to provide this novel therapy. 

Initially, what was the biggest challenge faced by the COVID Clinic?

When the clinic first opened, there was a severe shortage in diagnostic testing capacity. “We all had to be good stewards over a limited resource and carefully manage the best we could using prioritization strategies,” recalled Debbie-Ann Shirley, MD, Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, who serves as the clinic’s Medical Director. “Now, COVID-19 testing has become more readily accessible, including the expansion of other testing locations, integration of testing into primary care practice and the widespread availability of rapid home tests, allowing us to refocus our efforts to meet therapeutic needs.”  

How many patients have been tested by the COVID Clinic?

Latest information shows that the clinic has tested more than 29,400 patients. Thanks to the exceptional efforts of UVA Health lab, results have been turned around quickly.

How have the clinic’s service offerings changed as the pandemic has evolved?

When it first opened, the clinic was strictly a COVID testing and evaluation clinic for patients and team members, initially staffed by volunteer nurses and providers. Service offerings have steadily evolved since then.

• July 2020  I To meet diagnostic demands, the clinic transitioned to a nurse-run strictly testing clinic.
• December 2020 I The clinic began offering novel COVID outpatient monoclonal antibody therapy.
• July 2021 | As an additional service, the clinic offered post-COVID visits for patients with ongoing respiratory symptoms. The clinic also began providing COVID vaccines to patients and team members. 
• September 2021 | The clinic became a COVID-19 prevalence testing site for non-vaccinated UVA Health team members and asymptomatic individuals concerned about possible exposure. 
• November 2021 | During the height of the Omicron surge, the clinic became a walk-in team member testing clinic. 
• July 18, 2022 | As of this date, the clinic will no longer offer testing. Its service offerings will include preventative and therapeutic infusion and injections as well as post-COVID provider evaluation visits.

Who has made the services of the COVID Clinic possible?

According to the Dr. Shirley, “I am so grateful for the many outstanding team members mentioned below who have contributed and their unwavering dedication to patient care.” Contributors include:

• Michelle Sutton — Clinic Manager
• Rachel Nauman — Director of Operations
• Dr. Art Saavedra and John Bennett — Ambulatory Chiefs
• Drs. Kyle Enfield and Alexandra Kadl — Post-COVID Clinic providers
• Sarah Mabe and Vickie Vess, PFA Managers, and Katie Fellows, PFA Director
• A cadre of RNs, CMAs, LPNs, Access Associates — both clinic-based and volunteers, including return retirees!
• A dedicated on-site EVS team
• Drs. Mendy Poulter and Amy Mathers from Lab
• Pharmacy — Danielle Griggs, Brian Spoelhof, Hollee Schwantes, Heather Cox
• Dr. Patrick Jackson
• Employee Health — Dr. Josh Eby 
• Epic and Cadence partners — Charlotte Graham, Anna Blackburn, Tracey Justus, Collin Murray, Molli Campbell, Jenn Fuchs, and many more! 
• Vickie Marsh and Greeter team, and Frank James with RMC
• Tracey Shifflett and Facilities
• Dr. Costi Sifri, head of Hospital Epidemiology, and Joan Bucker, head of Infection Control
• Many, many more!