Beacon Health receives grants for COVID-19 vaccination outreach
Beacon Health has received $4.8 million in grants from the U.S. Health Resources and Services administration to provide education and services that are focused on increasing COVID-19 vaccinations rates among Hispanic, Black and amish residents of Elkhart, St. Joseph, Laporte and Marshall counties.
Collaborating with Saint Joseph Health System and a number of community partners, including universities, social service agencies and public health departments, community outreach workers will be mobilized and trained to educate, motivate and facilitate access to COVID vaccinations.
Through this partnership, funding will be deployed to the Beacon Community Impact team and Saint Joseph Community Health and Wellbeing to operate mobile vaccine clinics. The Beacon Community Impact team will also hire additional non-clinical, bilingual community health workers and create education and outreach efforts to educate people about the safety, effectiveness and availability of vaccines. These initiatives are aimed at reducing the disparities in vaccination rates, COVID cases and fatality rates that are more dramatic in these counties than the rest of Indiana.
“One lesson we’ve learned during the pandemic is that trusted voices within communities are the best way to overcome vaccine hesitancy, correct misinformation and connect people with healthcare providers,” said Kreg Gruber, Chief Executive Officer, Beacon Health System. “Beacon’s long-standing partnerships in our communities make possible the rapid, effective deployment of education and access to services to increase
COVID-19 vaccinations and protect the health of our community.”
The website Covidsmart.org has recently been launched that includes COVID-19 vaccine facts, vaccine educational materials in English and Spanish and video stories from local residents who were vaccine hesitant and had a change of heart.
The site also offers a calendar of COVID vaccine clinics and local testing site information.
“While COVID-19 numbers are trending in a direction that we are all excited to see, we want to be certain that everyone has the opportunity to make educated and informed decisions about vaccination,” said Kimberly Green Reeves, Director of Community Outreach, Beacon Health System. “We all must continue to do our part to remain healthy in our communities. It is important that we remain vigilant, especially now.”
Michelle Peters, Vice President, Community Health and Well-being, Saint Joseph Health System, added, “We are ‘Called to Care’ for our community. We listen, we partner and we make it easy. Our partnership with Beacon allows us to do just that by providing COVID vaccinations throughout the region to complement educational efforts.”
About Beacon Health System
Beacon Health System is the largest, locally owned and operated non-profit health care system in the region. Beacon is our community’s trusted partner in creating health and the majority provider of services to the underinsured and underserved. Beacon Children’s Hospital, Beacon Granger Hospital, Community Hospital of Bremen, Elkhart General Hospital, Epworth Hospital, Franciscan Beacon Hospital, Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Three Rivers Health, Beacon Medical Group, Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program, Beacon Health Foundation and Beacon Health & Fitness are powered by nearly 8,000 associates and over 1,000 physicians and providers.
About Saint Joseph Health System (SJHS)
Saint Joseph Health System is a notfor-profit healthcare system located in North Central Indiana that offers acute-based hospital care and postacute services including: community wellness, home care, physician clinics, outpatient services, independent and assisted senior living, memory care and affordable senior apartments. SJHS includes: Mishawaka Medical Center; Plymouth Medical Center; Outpatient services of the Elm Road Medical Campus; Health Insurance Services; Saint Joseph Medical Group; VNA Home Care; the Senior Living Communities at St. Paul’s, Holy Cross and Trinity Tower; and Saint Joseph PACE. SJHS serves more than 200,000 members of the Michiana community annually. SJHS is a Regional Health Ministry of Trinity Health in Livonia, Michigan.