It has been more than half a year since the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered at Pennsylvania Hospital — the first vaccines to be given at our health system early that chilly December morning. Met with applause by our staff in the Zubrow Auditorium, that first shot was a first step of protection for our frontline staff, and by extension their patients, against this devastating disease.
I’m grateful for our whole Pennsylvania Hospital community of heroes, starting with the frontline staff who first stepped forward in the early days of the pandemic to help our patients battle the virus. Our retirees even returned to the frontline, ready to make a difference in the Philadelphia community.
When we were able to expand our vaccine outreach to our patients and then the public, we looked outside the walls of the hospital, partnering with Live Nation in February to open our South Street Clinic at the Theater of the Living Arts (TLA). Our staff from Nursing, Patient Access, Pharmacy, Security, Patient & Guest Relations, and even our Volunteers established a workflow that created a smooth vaccination process from appointment scheduling to post-shot monitoring. For patients with concerns about the vaccine and other health-related worries, our staff offered support and helpful resources to put them at ease.
With the success of the TLA vaccination site, Pennsylvania Hospital has pivoted to opening operations at Hall-Mercer Community Mental Health Center, which has also been actively involved in Philadelphia’s vaccination efforts. As you can read above in this issue, our Targeted Case Management team has traveled throughout the city to administer the vaccine, allowing our behavioral health patients, who felt uncomfortable leaving their houses, to safely receive the shot through a home visit.
The efforts of hundreds of individuals add up to a huge impact: From that first delivery of doses, Pennsylvania Hospital staff have fully vaccinated more than 16,000 patients. And we can see how widespread vaccination is now bringing this virus under control at long last. June 4 marked the first day of having zero COVID-19 patients on the fourth floor of our Cathcart building since the onset of the pandemic. These achievements would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of our Nursing managers, educators, and supervisors, pharmacy, IT partners, and system wide planning group. Together, we have faced down the worst pandemic of our lifetimes. To each and every one of you, I thank you for your consistent dedication to serving our patients and community.