Of the more than 33,000 individuals eligible to receive a vaccine through VUMC's Occupational Health Clinic (OHC), approximately 21,188 have received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of this week. More than 19,592 have completed the process by receiving a second dose of the vaccine. The huge undertaking has been successful largely because of the efficient and well-structured collaboration between the OHC, Work/Life Connections-EAP and Health Plus teams to support employees, both on-site and remote, who have been impacted by COVID-19. The streamlined services offered to employees have included COVID-19 exposure procedures, testing, return-to-work and, now, vaccination.
One important outreach to employees has been the Occupational Health “Ask Me” Team. Led by Ana Nobis, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, and Margie Gale, MSN, RN, Nurse Wellness Specialist, the team answers questions about COVID-19 and vaccines, listens to individual concerns, and ensures employees have easy access to schedule a vaccine appointment. The “Ask Me” Team is available to meet, both virtually and in-person, with all employees in the Medical Center.
Recognizing the need for an easy-to-use vaccine scheduling process, the team developed a REDCap tool that allows employees to request a vaccine appointment directly through OHC, as well as a tool to report vaccines received outside of OHC. New Hire Orientations also provide an important opportunity for vaccine scheduling. New employees can stop by the onsite computer station or scan a QR code to quickly schedule an appointment.
Other outreach efforts include adding screensavers on all clinical workstations, a dedicated phone triage to answer employee questions, and direct communications to high-risk groups.
Taking the lessons of VUMC’s Flulapalooza large-scale, high-throughput vaccination model, OHC developed a multi-site plan to accommodate social distancing needs and greater accessibility for its on-site and remote workforce. The team leveraged the systems used in Flulapalooza to simplify and expedite the COVID-19 vaccine documentation, reporting and communication processes. Also, it made it a priority to collaborate with teams across the Medical Center, such as pharmacy, labor pool, facilities management, environmental services and supply chain, since the vaccine sites operated seven days a week across several locations.