ST. HELENA, Calif., January 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Two years ago, with just four days’ notice of the impending COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the St. Helena Hospital Foundation converted its mobile healthcare van into a COVID-19 vaccination program. Allowing him to become the first responder in the county to deliver vaccines to the most vulnerable in the Napa County Community. This week, the St. Helena Hospital Foundation celebrates the second anniversary of its heroic staff and technologically advanced facilities that enabled the Foundation’s early and successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to the most vulnerable members of the world. Napa Valley Community. Along with the hundreds of doctors, nurses, staff and community volunteers who made this life-saving campaign possible, the Foundation celebrates its unique converted mobile healthcare van that was itself a comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination program on wheels. Since those early days of new vaccines in early January 2021, the Foundation’s mobile health unit has hosted 450 clinics (including home visits) providing 60,000 vaccines and boosters, a program recognized at a global telehealth conference held at Denmark as a model for other community-based public health programs.
When the idea for the mobile health van was first discussed by members of the Board of Trustees in 2018, the goal was to reach underprivileged communities with general health services, especially seniors in Upvalley. When the pandemic broke out, given the desperate need for testing among farm workers, the Foundation took the lead and partnered with dedicated testing labs. With support from the Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation, the Foundation was the first to bring large-scale Covid-19 testing directly to the Napa County agricultural workforce.
When were the vaccines launched January 2021, the mobile health van has allowed the program to rotate again. “We knew from day one that the technology needed to register for a vaccine, as well as the time and transportation to get to vaccination sites, would create barriers, so with the mobile health van, we have been able to remove those barriers. making it easier and more welcoming for everyone to get their vaccines and, later, booster shots,” says Noemi Mauricio, RN, Community Educator RN for the St. Helena Hospital Foundation’s Mobile Health Unit (MOBI).
“We have been able to vaccinate the most vulnerable in their homes and the rest of the community at community vaccination sites, schools, businesses, churches, community centers and even in the vineyards, across Napa County,” She said Glen Newhart, President and CEO of the St. Helena Hospital Foundation. “While other agricultural areas of the state have been devastated by seemingly endless waves of infections, we have been able to help keep Napa County safe workers”.
“Another key to success was our community volunteers. In the first week vaccines were available, 150 community and medical volunteers, including nursing students from Pacific Union College and Napa Valley College, as well as countless supporters and Community partners like Napa Valley Vintners, Napa Valley Valley Grapegrowers, the Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation and the Napa County Farm Bureau have stepped up. All have come together for the health of our community.”
“We see mobile primary care as a key to our overall commitment to our community’s health – recent years have shown that this is an excellent way to rapidly pivot to address the need to open access to quality care to those who did had no access,” says Newhart. “Caring for our vulnerable farm and elderly workers has always been important to St. Helena Hospital. We provide health assessments and tests, as well as COVID and flu vaccines, free of charge when and where our community needs us.”
“For 145 years, St. Helena Hospital has been part of the rich history of Napa Countyand we are proud to celebrate all of our doctors, nurses, staff and community volunteers who have helped our communities survive and prevail over this terrible pandemic, including getting our mobile health van where it’s needed. We are excited about the new ways we can improve the health of our family, friends and neighbors by bringing healthcare out of the hospital and into our community with our mobile health team. We could be in a vineyard in Carneros one day, a Pope Valley the next, a school in Calistoga or community center on another, but wherever there’s a need, we’ll be there.”
OF ST. HELEN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
The St. Helena Hospital Foundation provides philanthropic support and enhances community connection for Adventist Health St. Helena and its vision to transform the health of our communities. Founded in 2004 as a 501(c)(3) organization, the St. Helena Hospital Foundation works with supporters to fund technology, equipment and programs that improve and save lives. Its dedication to ensuring that Napa County’s most vulnerable populations stay healthy led them to win a 2021 California Nonprofit of the Year. With a rich legacy of giving since the hospital’s inception in 1878, donations have allowed Adventist Health St. Helena to remain at its best, providing high-quality care in the region. For more information visit www.shhfoundation.org.
Contact: Glen Newhart
707-963-6206 | C 760-672-0319| [email protected]
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SOURCE Sant’Elena Hospital Foundation