Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

By John Young, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator

Indian Health Care Resource Center (IHCRC) has been on the forefront of the pandemic for more than 18 months, offering testing, educating patients and community members, combating misinformation, and providing vaccines as they became available.

At the onset of the pandemic IHCRC redirected all available resources to maximize safety for patients and staff and increased access to COVID-19 testing. Clinic leadership met regularly to discuss evolving data and made changes accordingly. Those changes included rerouting the clinic’s patient flow, further opening the channels of communication and even changing the utilization of space to ensure the highest level of care and safety for IHCRC patients and staff. One of the most important changes implemented is the addition of the COVID-19 clinic. The pharmacy lobby has been closed to serve as space for the new COVID-19 team, as well as an area for COVID-19 vaccinations. Additional staff, including Public Health Nurses, Registered Nurses, Receptionists, and Medical Assistants have been hired to manage the COVID-19 clinic. 12 PROMOTING HEALTH

IHCRC now offers patients a COVID-19 specific hot line, curbside testing, same day appointments for those experiencing symptoms, patient follow-up, as well as education on quarantining, isolation, reducing home spread, and when to seek COVID-19 testing. With the release of vaccines the COVID-19 clinic grew to include vaccination appointments and regular mass vaccination events that have vaccinated as many as 250 people in a four-hour period of time. As vaccination supply increased IHCRC partnered with local non-profits, community centers, restaurants, and small businesses to ensure no vaccine went to waste.

Overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, procrastination, and rejection are among the greatest challenges currently presented by the pandemic. IHCRC is working with local broadcasting stations, tribal magazines, and social media platforms to combat misinformation and increase awareness regarding the vaccine. “We are incredibly proud to be a trusted source in the community,” said Carmelita Skeeter, IHCRC’s Chief Executive Officer. “Over 98 percent of our staff have been vaccinated and they would encourage others to take the shot to protect themselves, their loved ones, and the community.” The streamlined processes developed at IHCRC make getting the vaccine incredibly quick and easy. The average appointment takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.