There aren’t a lot of feel good stories with COVID-19, notes Ann Giaquinto, whose father was recently treated with the groundbreaking monoclonal antibody therapy at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, MD. But her family is one of them.
“I’ve seen COVID-19 up close and personal, and I know what it can do,” says Giaquinto, who contracted the virus herself. “I didn’t want to waste time.” Fortunately, Ann, who works at Kindley Assisted Living at Asbury Methodist Village, knew that the community could provide monoclonal antibody therapy at its Wilson Health Care Center.
Within 24 hours her father was admitted at Wilson Health Care and began receiving the infusion in the afternoon. By the next day, his coughing had lessened, his energy had returned, and he was joking around with Ann and the nurses.
“There are so many blessings, and so many silver linings, and so many people who played a part in this,” says Ann. “Without this therapy, I just don’t know if his system would have been able to fight it.”
Across Asbury Communities, this groundbreaking therapy is transforming our ability to effectively treat seniors who have contracted COVID-19. Since mid-January, approximately 20 older adults have been successfully treated at Asbury Communities’ health care centers. Asbury can also coordinate the infusion treatments with nearby providers.
Turning a historic chapter in fight against COVID-19
Since December, Asbury has vaccinated thousands of associates and residents across our eight retirement communities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. At the same time, Asbury’s Clinical Leadership Team was seeking partners to provide the two medications approved under Emergency Use Authorization status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for monoclonal antibody therapy treatment.
Monoclonal antibody therapy allows Asbury Communities to offer the very latest in COVID-19 treatment for older adults who move to an Asbury community and are not yet vaccinated, for the few who declined the vaccine due to pre-existing conditions, or for seniors from the surrounding regions.
In general, criteria for monoclonal antibody therapy includes:
“Since the beginning of this pandemic, resident safety has been our top priority,” says Asbury CEO Doug Leidig. “The past year has challenged all of us, but here we are now, having turned a historic chapter in our fight against COVID-19.”
