COVID Care Clinic
The COVID Care Clinic provides outpatient therapies for high risk COVID+ patients. Outpatient COVID-19 therapies may help reduce the risk of progressing from mild or moderate COVID-19 to severe infection that require hospitalization for high risk individuals.
To be considered for outpatient COVID-19 therapy, high risk individuals should get tested within 2 days of having symptoms, by booking a PCR at hamiltoncovidtest.ca OR self-administering a Rapid Antigen Test kit. Access to testing and care within 1-2 days of symptom onset is essential.
The Hamilton Region’s COVID Care Clinic is a collaborative effort of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH), Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and Hamilton Family Medicine (HFAM). The COVID Care Clinic is located at the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s Charlton Campus, 50 Charlton Avenue East, Hamilton.
Update as of March 23, 2023 - Please Note: St. Joe’s Closing COVID-19 Testing and Assessment Centre at West 5th Campus on March 31. Ready access to COVID-19 testing in the community through most pharmacies is available for the public. Read more here.
You are considered high risk if you fall into the following categories.
- 70 and over
- 60 and over with fewer than three vaccine doses
- 50 and over AND First Nations, Inuit or Metis, AND unvaccinated
- 50 and over, unvaccinated with a major risk factor (Active cancer treatment, renal dialysis, end stage kidney disease, solid organ or stem cell transplant recipient, sickle cell disease, cerebral palsy and intellectual disability, severe obesity)
- 18 and over with fewer than three vaccine doses and at least one risk condition. (Risk conditions include: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, congestive heart failure, chronic lung disease including cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, sickle cell disease, moderate or severe kidney disease, moderate or severe liver disease)
- Immunocompromised (at any age)
- Are pregnant AND unvaccinated
- Severe difficulty breathing (struggling for each breath, can only speak in single words)
- Severe chest pain (constant tightness or crushing sensation)
- Feeling confused or unsure of where you are
- Losing consciousness
High risk individuals must have a positive COVID test to be referred to the clinic for further assessment and treatment. Referrals for COVID positive patients are made by St. Joe’s Mountain Testing and Assessment Centre, and SJHH & HHS Specialty Clinics/Providers.
Connect with your family doctor’s office (primary care provider) promptly for care if you are in a higher-risk group (*described above) and/or have tested positive on a Rapid Antigen Test OR PCR, and have symptoms. Your family doctor may prescribe antiviral medication that can be dispensed at most community pharmacies.
The COVID Care Clinic celebrated being open for 1 year in October 2022. To date, it has delivered more than 2,600 treatments and continues to provide care to those who need it. Read more: One year after “jumping right in,” St. Joe’s COVID Care Clinic celebrates providing 3,200+ treatments
