Four Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic hospitals – St. Mary Medical Center, Nazareth Hospital, Mercy Catholic Medical Center – Mercy Fitzgerald Campus, and Mercy Catholic Medical Center – Mercy Philadelphia Campus – are among the 51 Pennsylvania hospitals receiving remdesivir, an antiviral drug being tested as a possible COVID-19 treatment, from the federal government. The Department of Health will distribute the first shipment of the drug to the selected hospitals across the state over the next few days.
“Colleagues across all Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic hospitals have been providing high-quality, compassionate care to our community, which has been highly affected by the coronavirus,” said Sharon Carney, MD, SVP and Chief Clinical Officer for Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic. “We are happy we can now provide this treatment to patients most in need to help them overcome this illness.”
The Department of Health allotted the first shipments of remdesivir to hospitals based on: number of COVID-19 cases over a seven-day period, the severity of those cases and how many of those cases required use of a ventilator. The department will continue to work with federal partners to acquire more doses of this medication to serve more patients across Pennsylvania.
“The department is working to give our hospitals every opportunity to treat patients with COVID-19,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. “It is important to note that there is limited information on the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir to treat people in the hospital with COVID-19. However, it was shown in a clinical trial to shorten the recovery time in some people, which is why the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of the medication for treatment.”
Remdesivir is given to a patient through an IV once per day for up to 10 days, depending on how critically ill the patient is. According to the FDA, remdesivir may help decrease the amount of coronavirus in your body, which may help you get better faster.
In addition, St. Mary Medical Center and Mercy Catholic Medical Center – Mercy Fitzgerald Campus have been approved by Gilead Sciences to participate in an expanded access protocol for remdesivir.
Both hospitals have been approved for the clinical protocol for a limited number of critically ill patients. Currently, select hospitals across the world are participating in the Gilead trial, and Mercy Fitzgerald is the only hospital in Delaware County to take part.
“We are grateful to have the opportunity to participate in this Expanded Access Protocol and provide possible treatment to some of our most in need patients,” added Carney. “As our community comes together to overcome this crisis, we are proud our Mercy Fitzgerald and St. Mary colleagues are part of this specific effort to find a treatment for the coronavirus.”
St. Mary Medical Center and Mercy Fitzgerald have been treating a high volume of COVID-19 patients since the beginning of the local outbreak in early March. Each hospital has received an initial supply of the drug for treatment courses for patients that qualify for the protocol. The hospitals will have the ability to request additional shipment of remdesivir, depending on the level of supply available.
Remdesivir, developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, has been found to reduce the recovery time for patients with COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus. A clinical trial of remdesivir by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases reported patients experienced a 31 percent faster recovery time with the drug compared to a placebo.
Visit trinityhealthma.org/covid19 for more information.
