Kalamazoo County Adult Immunization Task Force Kalamazoo County

Kalamazoo County Adult Immunization Task Force Kalamazoo County Human Services Department Presented by Lynne Norman 1

Why is the task force beneficial? n n n Unified message to the community Workload is truly shared by all coalition members Number of influenza vaccinations given have increased each year, from 27, 147 in 2000 to 31, 657 in 2003 2

Task force began winter of 2000 Initial goal was to bring together public health, health care provider offices, hospitals, aging and home health agencies to coordinate efforts to increase the number of persons 50 and over receiving influenza, pneumonia and tetanus vaccines. In 1997, pneumonia and influenza together ranked 4 th as cause of death in Kalamazoo County n 3

Members n n n n n Area Agencies on Aging Borgess Corp. Fit Borgess Pro. Med Offices Borgess Visiting Nurses Association Bronson Hospital Infection Control Bronson Home Health Care Chief Medical Officer for Kalamazoo County Public Health Nurses Public Health Preparedness Director United Nursing Services 4

Through our members we reach: n n All hospitals in the county The majority of health care provider offices The major home health agencies All the major providers of influenza vaccine 5

Communications with members n Members are on an email list n All CDC Influenza Bulletins are distributed through the group, as well as other pertinent immunization information n n The members then forward the information on within their organization Educational mailings go through group, using interoffice mail at no cost n Examples of mailings n n Posters for health care providers waiting rooms Use of vaccine standing orders information 6

Major accomplishments in 2003 and 2004 n Put up bill boards emphasizing the need for adult immunizations in October and November n n n Placed bill boards in areas of town with lowest immunization rates Funding provided by a private sector, task force members Mailings to all homes, with persons 50 or above, in targeted zip codes, expressing need for influenza vaccine n n n Letter signed by Dr. Tooker, Chief Medical Officer Had excellent response to the letter Cost of mailing covered by members 7

Specific Flu Season Collaborations n n n We post each others flu hotline numbers and flu clinic schedules on each of our hotlines and web pages Work together to be sure underserved populations are getting reached We have flu clinics at area schools, with Visiting Nurses(unable to do 2004) n n Visiting Nurses vaccinates persons over 18 We vaccinate persons under 18 8

Influenza Vaccine delay or shortage issues n n Use identical screening tool/protocols Begin flu clinics at the same time through out the county We all agree on a date to open clinics to low risk We give a unified message to the media 9

2004 Influenza Shortage n As a group we held an emergency meeting on October 7 th, one day after CDC’s announcement n n n We then met twice the following week We took inventory of available vaccine doses in the community We choose to stop all influenza clinics for one week to regroup and assess our communities situation 10

2004 Decisions n One large health organization had vaccine while many others had none n n n We looked at highest risk populations Doses were sold to medical providers who served highest risk clients As a group we picked one day to all hold clinics n n This was an easy message for the media to get out for us Our screening tools were identical 11

Influenza vaccinations given by selected immunizers 12

Other benefits of group n Emergency preparedness collaborations n n n Regional Smallpox vaccination plan County mass medication clinic planning West Nile Virus information 13

Overview n n n This group has simplified communication between public health and the private health care provider Given our community a unified, consistent message, when dealing with difficult flu seasons Increased the number of persons receiving influenza vaccination 14