Confusion and frustration.
Those are the feelings that 56-year-old Calgary grandmother Barbara Pencala was left with after she learned on Wednesday via email that Alberta Health Services (AHS) is concluding its long COVID Inter-Professional Outpatient Program (IPOP).
The temporary initiative was set up in 2021 and was never meant to be permanent, but the news came as a surprise to hundreds of program patients, many of whom took to social media to express their concerns.
“It just felt standardized. Shocking, tears were streaming down my face as I was reading the email,” Pencala told Global News when describing her reaction just hours earlier.
“I still can’t believe it.”
Pancala says she was healthy before she got sick with COVID in January 2022 and while she initially recovered in a week, she says she has suffered from long COVID ever since.
Nausea, exhaustion, brain fog and other symptoms have taken over her life and livelihood.
“I have to choose what I can do in a day because I can’t do it all,” she says, adding the program helped patients realize they aren’t alone and helped them manage their varying daily symptoms.
Even though the program was virtual and still relied on the patients to largely take control of their participation, Pencala credits it with helping her learn how to deal with the debilitating consequences that’s left her on disability.
AHS officials confirmed the closure and provided Global News with a statement:
“The health and well-being of our patients remain a priority, and we are committed to ensuring they receive the support they need during this transition. All patients of these clinics are being directly notified and will also receive information on managing their health concerns through other providers.”
The AHS statement continued:
“While most Albertans can and should safely manage mild COVID-19 symptoms at home with the support of AHS self-care resources, Albertans can also reach out to their primary care provider or Health Link for support in determining whether additional supports may be needed for specific COVID-19 symptoms.”
Even though the resources will be made available online, Pencala says she and hundreds of other long COVID sufferers relied on the program in its current form.
“That’s not the same when you’ve got brain fog, when you can’t concentrate, you’re fatigued and you feel alone,” she says, adding she particularly valued the connection she had with the other patients.
“It’s not the same.”