UNC shuts down Long COVID clinic, leaving thousands without specialized care

Before it closed last week, the University of North Carolina’s clinic was a leading site for Long COVID care in the U.S. South.

Gillian Lizars moved from New York City to North Carolina after developing Long COVID in 2021. One reason she chose the state was that she hoped to access medical care at the University of North Carolina (UNC) COVID Recovery Clinic.

The clinic played a crucial role in improving her quality of life: from being bedbound to being able to sit up, watch some TV, answer emails, and attend doctors’ appointments.

But as of June 16, the UNC COVID Recovery Clinic has closed its doors, leaving thousands of patients without care and support. 

Lizars is just one of many people with Long COVID who relied on the clinic not only for treatment but also for help with disability paperwork, support from a social worker, and specialist referrals. 

The closure of the UNC COVID Recovery Clinic, the only one of its kind in North Carolina, illustrates the fragility of Long COVID care in the U.S. According to Long COVID statistics from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, as of September 2024, approximately 6.2% of the people living in North Carolina were experiencing Long COVID, as well as 4.6% in South Carolina and 4.8% in Virginia.

Since its launch in 2021, the UNC clinic has seen more than 3,500 patients from over 20 states. Many of them faced serious consequences from the disease, according to unpublished data from the clinic, shared with The Sick Times. In a survey reporting how Long COVID had impacted them, 43% of patients said they stopped working, 33% went into debt, and 53% had difficulty with activities of daily living. Now patients are losing access not only to specialized care, but also critical services and resources.

This news comes at a time when other Long COVID clinics and services are closing in the U.S., across Canada, and in the U.K. It also follows the federal government’s shuttering of the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice and the erasure of important Long COVID data. The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are also threatening funding for Medicaid, which could impact healthcare for millions.  

“The clinic closing sends me into a panic,” said Lizars. “I think to myself, ‘Oh my God, no help is coming.’”

UNC Health declined The Sick Times’ request for an interview. Alan Wolf, a spokesperson for the health system, stated that Long COVID care would shift to the UNC Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, “where [patients] will receive the same excellent care from their current medical providers.”

The clinic closing sends me into a panic. I think to myself, ‘Oh my God, no help is coming.’

Gillian Lizars, patient at the UNC clinic

In a letter dated May 28, 2025, the clinic informed patients that it was closing due to the loss of several funding sources. While some doctors will continue providing Long COVID care, others will no longer see patients, and fewer support resources will be available. 

“Most of the clinic’s funding was internal, coming from UNC Health,” Wolf wrote. Like most Long COVID clinics, UNC’s did not receive federal funding, according to Wolf. He didn’t provide more detail about the lost funds cited by the clinic’s letter. 

The letter also stated that patients should now contact their primary care doctor for help with their disability paperwork, social work, specialist referrals, and insurance prior authorizations. Many people with Long COVID have found that managing care while debilitated or disabled by the energy-limiting disease is a full-time job itself, highlighting the importance of well-organized and integrated care.

For many of the clinic’s patients, this change feels like two steps back. Patients who have been working with the same doctors for years, providers who understood the nuances of each case, must now rely on primary care physicians who are often managing a wide range of conditions and may not have specialized knowledge of Long COVID. 

People who have more recently contracted Long COVID reported having a hard time finding specialty care, Rebecca Nagle reported in The Atlantic earlier this year. In the U.S., clinics for Long COVID have been quietly closing, leaving patients unattended and without knowledgeable care. Although there is a federal program created through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to support Long COVID clinics, only 12 institutions received grants, and advocates are worried about the program’s future under the current administration.

Doreen Stein-Seroussi, who has experienced gaslighting from other physicians and neurologists, has been a patient at the UNC COVID Recovery Clinic since 2022. There, she found vestibular physical therapy (a specialized form of physical therapy that focuses on treating dizziness, vertigo, and balance problems) to be a key part of her treatment program. 

“There are many aspects to the Long COVID clinic that have been invaluable,” said Stein-Seroussi. “They stay up on the research and anecdotal evidence about treatments to try.”

She added, “They also showed a lot of compassion towards me as a Long COVID patient when other providers did not.” 

They also showed a lot of compassion towards me as a Long COVID patient when other providers did not.

Doreen Stein-Seroussi, patient at the UNC clinic

The UNC clinic has also helped its patients, like Lizars, apply for Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and employer-based long-term disability insurance policies.

“Applying for disability is like a full-time job. The rate of rejection is really high,” said Dom Kelly from the advocacy organization New Disabled South. “And now they’re cutting employees at Social Security offices across the country.” 

Lizars was approved for SSDI in April 2023. But with the clinic closing, she’s nervous about her next eligibility review, coming up in spring of 2026. 

“The doctors who know my case best, who prescribe most of my medications, will not be able to support my disability case,” said Lizars. “If I lose SSDI, then I lose the meager income I get from that as well as the health insurance I pay for — Medicare.”

Advocates from #MEAction in North Carolina are organizing the community to call their representatives in Congress to demand federal funding to keep the clinic open.

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Delfi Marchese is an intern at The Sick Times specializing in data journalism. She is currently working on a larger project about Long COVID clinics in the U.S. If you’ve had similar experiences with clinic closures or care challenges, she’d love to hear from you. Email her at dmarchese1203@proton.me or reach out on Signal at dmarchese.26.

Editor’s note, June 24, 2 p.m. ET: This story was updated to correct details about Gillian Lizars’ current quality of life.

All articles by The Sick Times are available for other outlets to republish free of charge. We request that you credit us and link back to our website.

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