Vaccination clinic volunteers thanked

DOVER-FOXCROFT — About 6,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered at Northern Light Health’s clinic at the Piscataquis County Ice Arena from mid-March to early May. The effort there and at other healthcare system locations was carried out thanks in part to around 30 volunteers who were recognized by officials from Northern Light Mayo and CA Dean Hospitals during a luncheon on May 10 at the arena.

“I know it goes without saying but it has been an unprecedented year with this pandemic, the largest pandemic that we have had in our lifetimes,” Northern Light Health Senior Vice President/Northern Light Mayo and CA Dean Hospitals President Marie Vienneau said. “I could not be prouder of my staff that have been dealing with this for well over a year now and have pivoted, sometimes almost daily, to implement new policies, have new testing strategies, have new safety measures to keep our patients, our staff and our community safe.”

Vienneau said the coronavirus was kept out of Piscataquis County for a time, but it arrived and remains in the region.

“We got our first vaccine in Dover-Foxcroft the week of Christmas and so many of us who are health care workers were able to get our first shot on Christmas Eve,” she said. “That was a very wonderful moment and an encouraging moment and it was the first time that we had a positive light on this pandemic. It felt like we had something proactive and positive that we could do to stop COVID-19 and I know you all felt it when you were at the clinics as well. People were so appreciative and thankful that we were able to give them their vaccine.”

To reach more residents, a larger-scale clinic was set up at the ice arena through a partnership between Northern Light, Foxcroft Academy and the Libra Foundation. Vienneau said help was sought from the community to get as many people vaccinated as possible with volunteers assisting with notifications, guiding patients through the steps, testing, giving shots, coordinating, providing medical skills and more to keep operations running depending on the volunteer’s qualifications and expertise.

Vienneau said the volunteers were a huge help giving countless hours and the effort was “a wonderful way for health care and community to interact and work together to try to improve the health of our region.”

She said about 6,000 vaccine doses were given at the Piscataquis County Ice Arena. As she spoke the setup on the facility floor was being taken down a few days after the final day of operation on May 7. More than 10,000 vaccines have been administered in Piscataquis County between clinics in Greenville and Dover-Foxcroft and at the ice arena.

“Demand fell for the vaccine and also some of the supply fell as well and the system and the state itself are actually shifting strategy on vaccination and really most of the mass clinics around the state will be closed by the end of May,” Vienneau said. She said the plan now is to give shots at smaller clinics, including for children age 12 and older.

In addition, vaccinations will be conducted at physician practices and primary care clinics across the region. “That’s our next step, to get the vaccination process more localized,” Vienneau said.

Northern Light Mayo Vice President of Quality and Education Nikki Chadwick then presented a pair of Patient Safety Awards, explaining that the hospital staff will be recognized for bringing up such issues.

“This clinic was really all about safety, the safety of our community and the safety of just being able to be safe through being immunized,” Chadwick said, also thanking volunteers specifically for the positive energy they brought to the site.

She said Barb Austin recognized how the arena floor would get slippery, especially on rainy days, and Piscataquis County Ice Arena staff were able to find red carpets to provide for safer movement.

Chadwick said Jayne Sharrow devised a system involving purple gloves to let a vaccinator know if a patient was anxious and may need even more support. “Jayne thought of that and that worked so well to really alleviate some of that anxiety, especially when we got into the younger crowd,” Chadwick said.

She said Sharrow also recognized some of the chairs might not provide enough support for heavier patients, and soon sturdier seats were set up.

Vienneau then said she wanted to recognise nurse Sandy Engstrom for giving out 1,800 vaccine doses.

“I want to add my thanks to the thanks that Marie and Nikki have offered here and also to say we are not done [with] immunization,” Northern Light Mayo and Northern Light CA Dean Hospitals Senior Physician Executive Dr. David McDermott said. “We still have a lot of people in our community who have not taken advantage of the opportunities for immunization and we’re working on our next phase to reach out to them and help answer their questions, help them understand the science of the vaccines, understand how safe they are, how effective they are and how good it can be to have a community with a higher rate of immunization.”

Dr. McDermott said those who are hesitant about vaccination likely won’t be convinced with stern talking. Instead their concerns should be heard and volunteers can help answer questions and/or direct people to hospital officials.

Hillary Starbird, community outreach supervisor at Northern Light Mayo Hospital, said at first she was worried about not having enough volunteers but she was overwhelmed by the response.

“It was amazing, it was heartwarming and it is certainly not something I will forget in my lifetime, I appreciate each and every one of you and everything you did in this entire process,” Starbird said. She then had gifts for each volunteer and as the bags were handed out, Starbird told the luncheon attendees what everyone did for duties.