Beaumont vaccinates thousands daily
SOUTHFIELD » Dr. Nick Gilpin calls it a “slick process.”
The Beaumont Health Care System so far has vaccinated 15,000 of its 38,000 employees against COVID
This week they have expanded their system at the Beaumont Southfield Service Center so they can inject 3,200 doses per day of the Pfizer vaccine. Vaccinations for all Beaumont employees are being done at the Southfield location.
Gilpin, the director of epidemiology and infection prevention at Beaumont Health System, was the first to get a shot in the arm on Dec. 15. He and the others from that day were back 21 days later for the second dose on Tuesday.
“Our goal was to get through all of our employees and healthcare workers within about six weeks and I still think we’re on track,” Gilpin said.
Beaumont has cared for more COVID-19 patients than any other health system in Michigan.
“Our plan is to launch more robust clinics at some of our hospital campuses and community locations. We want to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible,” said Karen Grant, executive vice president and chief nursing officer for Beaumont Health.
But they must follow the government guidelines on priorities.
“To keep our health system functioning we offered vaccinations to frontline staff first and then to all Beaumont employees,” Grant said. “We plan to vaccinate all of our providers, our employees, and our affiliates including our medical, nursing, pharmacy, respiratory and allied health staff and our affiliated private practice staff teams as well as soon as possible.”
She noted that is important to vaccinate staff that doesn’t have direct contact with COVID-19 patients because they keep the health system running.
Gilpin said they don’t yet know when they can start opening up to vaccinate people who are not a 1A priority.
““We’re still waiting for some direction from the state on those decisions. We still want to get through the vast majority of our healthcare workers before we start pivoting to the general public,” Gilpin said.
While the vaccination process has not been a welloiled machine everywhere, it is moving along well at Beaumont.
Heidi Pillen, the Senior Director of System Pharmacy Services at Beaumont Health, submits an allocation request each Thursday to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for vaccine. It is based on anticipated doses they plan to administer the following week. The allocation is released on Sunday and the shipment arrives on Tuesdays.
“I would say I don’t get 100 percent of what I request, but I’ve been able to manage with what we get for sure, it’s certainly sufficient,” Pillen said.
She said they have a good relationship with the MDHHS. “We’re talking to them directly to explain our requests and what we’re asking for,” Pillen said.
Dr. Chadi Ibrahim, who runs the COVID-19 unit at Troy Beaumont, was happy to get his second dose on Tuesday.
“It’s a relief and in a way I feel fortunate I have not gotten the COVID infection yet,” Ibrahim said. “I know many colleagues and family members and friends who got it, to me it’s a pass. I feel very fortunate to be able to get the two shots.”
He said the COVID patient numbers at Troy Beaumont have declined since reaching a peak late in November. He’s still awaiting numbers, hopeful that the recent holidays don’t cause an increase.
Ibrahim, Gilpin and Saaja Rayford, a nurse at Troy Beaumont, all said their only side effect from the first dose was a little soreness in the arm.
“It’s a feeling of comfort. Of course it’s not a cure, we still have to do our part, we still have to wear masks, we still have to social distance. This is going to help the numbers hopefully start to decline,” Rayford said. “Now that we have the vaccine, it’s a line of defense we didn’t have. Hopefully with people getting vaccinated and doing their part it will get better.”