FIRST VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED IN UKIAH
Doctor, nurse, housekeeper given the first three shots
A doctor who has treated emergency room patients in Ukiah for 40 years was the first person to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Mendocino County Thursday.
“I love living here, I love practicing here,” said Mark Luoto when asked why he has spent four decades working at the hospital formerly known as Ukiah Valley Medical Center, now called Adventist Health Ukiah Valley. When asked why he was first in line for the Pfizer vaccine, hospital staff joked that “he has the perfect arm.”
“I couldn’t wait to get it,” said Luoto, 70, explaining that while he can understand why many folks younger than him might be hesitant to be vaccinated, “old geezers like me who are still working in the ER are very excited to get it.”
Luoto, who also serves as the Emergency Medical Services Director for Mendocino County, said while he certainly feels safe working in the hospital “because we are all very careful,” he was very grateful for the extra protection the vaccine will provide.
Just one of the extra measures the hospital is employing to help keep patients and staff safe inside its campus are thermal scanners used at the entrances. Visitors to the hospital Thursday were asked to stand on an “X” on the ground while a camera took their temperature and displayed it on a computer screen for a woman at the counter.
The second person to receive the vaccine in Mendocino County was a registered nurse named Holly Bennett, who works in the Emergency Room at Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits. The third person to receive the vaccine Thursday was Marcella Gamez, whom hospital staff said had been working as a “housekeeper here for 24 years.”
Also in line Thursday were paramedics, at least two from Medstar and one from the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority.
“I’m excited,” said UVFA Capt. Skip Williams, adding that his wife, who works as an emergency room nurse in Santa
Rosa, was scheduled to get the vaccine Monday. When asked if his wife was jealous he would be getting the shot first, Williams said, “I just got the call 15 minutes ago, so we haven’t talked about it yet!”
Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren spoke briefly before the first shots were administered, explaining that the three- layered, ultracold box of vaccines had only just been opened, and now the 975 doses would be given largely to frontline healthcare workers “according to an ethical and equitable framework that has been developed through the (Centers for Disease Control) and the California Department of Public Health which we are sticking strictly to.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we hope that this vaccine will be it,” Coren said. “This is the first step to regaining the health of our community.”
Adventist Health officials said Thursday that their three hospitals in Mendocino County, located in Ukiah, Willits and Fort Bragg, had so far cared for more than 200 patients with Covid-19.
On Thursday there were 13 patients hospitalized with Covid-19, and 30 percent of the ICU capacity was available.
“We got nervous when we had 17 Covid patients back about two- and- ahalf months ago,” said Adventist Health CEO Jason Wells. “We haven’t hit that 17 again, but we did hit 15 recently. This vaccine is a breath of fresh air.”