Uniontown Hospital administers first coronavirus vaccinations to hospital staff
Holly Hendershot/For the Observer-Reporter
Registered Nurse Jacqueline Staggers administers the COVID-19 vaccine to Christina Hair, director of the Clinical Resources Center at Uniontown Hospital.
A nurse at Uniontown Hospital prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to a hospital staff member.
Holly Hendershot/For the Observer-Reporter
Staff members at Uniontown Hospital prepare tables for vaccinating employees of the hospital.
Uniontown Hospital employees stood in line to receive the hospital’s first vaccinations for COVID-19 Friday morning.
Although getting the vaccine is not required of the employees, many came out to get it to protect themselves and others as front-line health care workers.
“It’s not mandatory, but we have had a pretty good response,” said Christa Ebbert, executive director of quality experiences at the hospital. “Our chief medical officer, Dr. [Surabhi] Gaur, sent out an email memo to everyone encouraging employees to get it, because it’s the first step in helping combat this.”
Within the past week and a half, the amount of hospitalized coronavirus cases in Uniontown Hospital have risen from 50 to more than 70 patients, according to Josh Krysak, director of community relations at the hospital. More than half the patients in the hospital are COVID positive, he said, and whole floors and the ICU unit are dedicated solely to patients with the virus. Several of their own staff members are out sick with the virus as well, leading to long hours for healthy employees.
“All our staff are pitching in and working extra hours,” he said. “[The vaccinations] are the beginning of the light at the end of the tunnel. … Hopefully, this will start to turn the tide against this virus, and we can eventually come out of this pandemic.”
There were four vaccination stations in the room where they were being administered, as well as 16 observation areas for employees to sit after they got vaccinated. Employees waited in a line outside the vaccination room. Once someone left a seat in the observation area, they directed another person into the room to get the vaccination. After they got their injection, they were brought to the back of the room to be observed for at least 15 minutes, as recommended by the CDC.
Christina Hair, director of the Clinical Resource Center at the hospital, said she has worked throughout the pandemic. She said she has seen just how bad the virus has gotten and decided to receive the vaccination to help prevent it’s spread.
“Things here in Fayette County have gotten extremely bad,” she said. “The last few weeks have been especially bad, with multiple deaths every day. I’m one person, but if I can help prevent getting it and giving it to someone else here, I will. I need to be able to work. I need to be here to take care of people who have it.”
This month alone the number of virus cases and deaths in Fayette County more than doubled. Thrity-two of the county’s 54 total deaths came in the first 18 days of December. The case count on Dec. 1 stood at 2,299, with 5,360 cases reported on Friday.
The spike means hospital staff members must step up to fill the gaps.
Jamie Trifiro, executive assistant for the clinical executive suite and the chief nursing officer, held the role of directing people into the vaccination room Friday, making sure people were social distancing and that there weren’t too many people in the room at a time.
“People are taking on roles that are not standard for their positions,” Trifiro said. “Everyone is pitching in and doing everything we can to support each other and get the job done through this crisis.”