Cincinnati Public Schools, hospital outreach for COVID-19, flu vaccine
More than 40 doctors, nurses, clinicians and others – many of whom speak Spanish – will set up a vaccine clinic at an East Price Hill elementary next week, welcoming neighborhood families.
The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center vaccine clinic, planned with Cincinnati Public Schools, is a welcomed event, says Luz Elena Schemmel.
She should know. Schemmel has been tirelessly advocating for COVID-19 vaccines in the three Price Hill neighborhoods since they became available last year. Often speaking in Spanish, her first language, to families for whom English is a second language, and meeting people face to face for a multitude of health issues, Schemmel has 12 years of experience in outreach as director of wellness and immigration for Santa Maria Community Services.
“We’ve been in the trenches,” says Schemmel. And now, she says, she’s thrilled to spread the word that Cincinnati Children’s and CPS are teaming up for the outreach clinic at Rees Price Academy.
The COVID-19 and flu vaccine clinic, set for Feb. 17 at the community school at 1228 Considine Ave., is the second elementary-school based clinic that Cincinnati Children’s has arranged with the school district to reach people in the city who may have trouble getting to the hospital’s campuses, where vaccines are routinely provided, Cincinnati Children’s officials said. The first was at Rockdale Elementary in Avondale.
“You can come with your entire family – from the 5-year-old to the grandparent to the elderly neighbor,” said Susan Wade-Murphy, a registered nurse and Cincinnati Children’s assistant vice president in the division of patient services. “We’re reaching out to the entire neighborhood.”
Schemmel said it’s important to meet the neighbors in their comfort zone. “They are insulated; not only the Hispanic communities but I think others, too,” she said. “I think being creative and bringing the resources to the community, there’s a need.”
And, she said, “Schools are a trusted place.”
Interim Cincinnati Schools Superintendent Tianay Amat said the district is happy to pair with the medical center for its families. “Cincinnati Children’s hospital is committed to the health and well-being of the whole child, and we are incredibly lucky to have them as a CPS partner,” she said.
The Rees Price Academy-based clinic will be a large undertaking, Wade-Murphy said, involving providers and staff from several departments. Although the hospital has gone to community locations and schools for clinics several times, most COVID-19 vaccines have been given at the main campus in Avondale, or the Liberty Township or Butler County campuses.
Wade-Murphy said Cincinnati Children’s has reached out to several Price Hill-area community groups, including Santa Maria Services, Su Casa and La Mega 97.7 FM radio.
Rees Price Academy enrolls about 600 students from preschool through sixth grade, including more than 20% Hispanic children and more than 17% are English learners, Ohio School Report Card data show.
The clinic details:
- Hours are 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
- No appointment is needed, this is a walk-in clinic.
- Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, flu shots for those 5 years and older.
- Pfizer boosters for those 12 and older, at least five (5) months after the initial vaccine series.
- Box dinners.
Liliana Wooten, a Cincinnati Children’s nurse who’s helped with several clinics designed to reach Latino populations, said the clinics are important for Spanish-speaking residents. She was born in Venezuela and often interpreted English-speaking medical providers for her mother as a child.
“Coming from immigrant parents and having migrated to the U.S. myself at an early age, I understand how patients can feel more comfortable with the healthcare system if they have people who look and talk like them providing the care,” Wooten said. She said kids smile and look relieved when she first speaks Spanish to them during vaccination clinics.
Schemmel said language barriers can be the reason some are hesitant to get vaccinated and the presence of healthcare workers who greet them speaking their first language will put people at ease.
Cincinnati Children’s has provided more than 45,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since January 2021, with about 20,000 given to children as they became eligible for vaccines and boosters at all locations (including primary care offices). That works out to more than 17,200 individuals receiving a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine from a Cincinnati Children’s provider, Wade-Murphy said.
Children ages 5 to 11 (or most elementary-age kids) have been eligible to get the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine since November. Data on first vaccines through Jan. 28 provided through state Ohio Department of Health’s COIVD-19 Dashboard shows that 30% of Hamilton County’s children in that age group had received at least one vaccine as of Friday; 24% in Butler County in that age group and 22% in Clermont County and 35% in Warren County. The statewide rate is 24.4%.
The Cincinnati Children’s team will return to Rees Price Academy three weeks after the first clinic, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. March 10, for second doses of the vaccine or first COVID-19 vaccines, boosters or flu vaccines, Wade-Murphy said.
“Some populations are beginning to be ready to vaccinate,” Wade-Murphy said. “We want to be there for people who are ready.”
Read More: Cincinnati Public Schools, hospital outreach for COVID-19, flu vaccine