St. Elizabeth's Hospital issued the following announcement on Dec. 17.
Today December 17, HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital administered the first COVID-19 vaccine doses to hospital colleagues who are serving on the front lines of this pandemic. The first colleagues included:
- Shequeta Mack-Wallace, RN – Charge Nurse, Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
- Erin Manka, RN – Facilitator, Emergency Department
- Philip Gray, RN - Emergency Department
- Katy Lorenzo, Nurse Practitioner – ICU
- Charles Auer, MD - Emergency Department
The doses, which arrived this morning, were administered to clinical colleagues providing direct patient care, all of who voluntarily consented to receive the vaccine. At this time, Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) is not requiring its colleagues to receive the vaccination, although they are recommending colleagues receive the vaccine when it is available to them.
St. Elizabeth’s will be following the CDC guidelines to determine during which phases their colleagues will receive the vaccine. Locally, they will work closely with the St. Clair County Health Department as they continue to receive additional doses.
St. Elizabeth’s President and Chief Executive Officer Patti Fischer shared, “I am proud that we have the frontline caregivers who have been through it all here to receive the first vaccines. I personally thank all of you for everything you have done these past long months and now we have a ray of hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.” Fischer added, “This is an exciting step to be able to provide an additional level of protection for our colleagues who continue to provide exceptional and compassionate patient care in the midst of this pandemic.”
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital still encourages people to do their part to decrease the number of COVID cases in the area. “This is a big day, but we continue to remind the community that the pandemic is not over. We must continue to be diligent with hand washing, social distancing, masking and staying home when we are ill. For those who need care, we are always here so we are also encouraging community members to not delay their care.”
Original source can be found here.
Source: St. Elizabeth's Hospital
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