Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
I work at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Washington County, Oregon. As you are well-aware, the populations most affected by Covid-19 are disproportionately communities of color and people with barriers to healthcare. Washington and Multnomah Counties account for the vast majority of Covid-19 cases in the state of Oregon. Within Washington County, the patients at Virginia Garcia account for a startlingly high number of those cases. I find it unacceptable that three weeks following the arrival of vaccines in Oregon, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center has not yet received vaccines for our frontline staff and our most vulnerable patients. Our Covid testing site is 100 yards from a hospital entrance that has had the vaccine for 21 days. The disparity between the circumstances and opportunities could not be more stark. Oregon claims to understand that some communities are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 and it has pledged to address this. We need action. It stands to reason that if our frontline medical workers and most at-risk patients are vaccinated, there will be fewer patients in the hospital with Covid-19. I completely understand and support the need to vaccinate hospital staff at highest risk fo Covid-19. I also hope that Virginia Garcia frontline staff and highest-risk patients will immediately receive some of the 141,000 doses of this vaccine present (as of 1/4/21) in Oregon at this moment. More vaccines need to be given to the counties and primary care clinics with the greatest Covid caseloads in order to expedite administration and help stop the spread of Covid-19. Unless the people most at risk in our communities are prioritized, this pandemic will continue to be a problem for all.
Sincerely ,
Maura O'Leary, MD
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Updates
January 5, 2021
I never imagined this would reach so many people who care deeply about our patients. Behind the scenes things are still moving slowly but your attention has forced this issue into rooms where it was previously ignored. This momentum belongs entirely to the people who took the time to read about our community.
17 Comments
It is entirely absurd and abhorrent that primary care physicians who aren’t part of a large hospital system have been completely neglected in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the country and specifically in Oregon. Myself and the other doctor in our clinic in Clackamas county have been consistently seeing patients for >9months of this pandemic, and yet OHA still has no information as to when or where we are to receive vaccination while hospital affiliated individuals whether or not they are public facing have been receiving vaccinations for more than 3 weeks. Step up, OHA.
1000 times, vaccinate these heros. I'm an ED nurse, and i am horrified that my colleagues at this frontline clinic, serving predominantly Latinx and working class folks, have not been periodized
ALL community clinics and urgent care clinics should have been among the first in line to receive and dispense vaccines. To not have given Virginia Garcia staff/patients vaccines yet shows a DISTINCT bias against the community they serve.
I have been a PCP in the state of Oregon for 13 years. My MA and I have been seeing patients through the entire pandemic. We deserve to be vaccinated, ASAP. It's very hard to watch non-public facing, stay at home employees receive vaccination when we cannot. It feels like a slap in the face.
This is a most important issue. Our clinic has 52,000 patients in Washington and Yamhill Counties- all within the highest risk categories for Covid, and our staff face these patients every day. We absolutely must receive the vaccine to get our staff vaccinated ASAP, and also our patients.
I agree 100%. I sincerely hope OHA will expedite vaccine distribution to our frontline outpatient highest risk clinics and populations ASAP.
We need to prioritize vaccinating any providers with direct patient contact
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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
I work at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Washington County, Oregon. As you are well-aware, the populations most affected by Covid-19 are disproportionately communities of color and people with barriers to healthcare. Washington and Multnomah Counties account for the vast majority of Covid-19 cases in the state of Oregon. Within Washington County, the patients at Virginia Garcia account for a startlingly high number of those cases. I find it unacceptable that three weeks following the arrival of vaccines in Oregon, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center has not yet received vaccines for our frontline staff and our most vulnerable patients. Our Covid testing site is 100 yards from a hospital entrance that has had the vaccine for 21 days. The disparity between the circumstances and opportunities could not be more stark. Oregon claims to understand that some communities are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 and it has pledged to address this. We need action. It stands to reason that if our frontline medical workers and most at-risk patients are vaccinated, there will be fewer patients in the hospital with Covid-19. I completely understand and support the need to vaccinate hospital staff at highest risk fo Covid-19. I also hope that Virginia Garcia frontline staff and highest-risk patients will immediately receive some of the 141,000 doses of this vaccine present (as of 1/4/21) in Oregon at this moment. More vaccines need to be given to the counties and primary care clinics with the greatest Covid caseloads in order to expedite administration and help stop the spread of Covid-19. Unless the people most at risk in our communities are prioritized, this pandemic will continue to be a problem for all.
Sincerely ,
Maura O'Leary, MD
Updates
January 5, 2021
I never imagined this would reach so many people who care deeply about our patients. Behind the scenes things are still moving slowly but your attention has forced this issue into rooms where it was previously ignored. This momentum belongs entirely to the people who took the time to read about our community.
17 Comments
I agree with Dr. Divneet Kaur of Multnomah County Health Department that "essential workers, people of color and people who live in multi-generational housing. Prioritizing this group is not only the most effective way to stop the spread of this virus, but it is also the most equitable."
It is entirely absurd and abhorrent that primary care physicians who aren’t part of a large hospital system have been completely neglected in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the country and specifically in Oregon. Myself and the other doctor in our clinic in Clackamas county have been consistently seeing patients for >9months of this pandemic, and yet OHA still has no information as to when or where we are to receive vaccination while hospital affiliated individuals whether or not they are public facing have been receiving vaccinations for more than 3 weeks. Step up, OHA.
1000 times, vaccinate these heros. I'm an ED nurse, and i am horrified that my colleagues at this frontline clinic, serving predominantly Latinx and working class folks, have not been periodized
ALL community clinics and urgent care clinics should have been among the first in line to receive and dispense vaccines. To not have given Virginia Garcia staff/patients vaccines yet shows a DISTINCT bias against the community they serve.
I have been a PCP in the state of Oregon for 13 years. My MA and I have been seeing patients through the entire pandemic. We deserve to be vaccinated, ASAP. It's very hard to watch non-public facing, stay at home employees receive vaccination when we cannot. It feels like a slap in the face.
This is a most important issue. Our clinic has 52,000 patients in Washington and Yamhill Counties- all within the highest risk categories for Covid, and our staff face these patients every day. We absolutely must receive the vaccine to get our staff vaccinated ASAP, and also our patients.
I agree 100%. I sincerely hope OHA will expedite vaccine distribution to our frontline outpatient highest risk clinics and populations ASAP.
We need to prioritize vaccinating any providers with direct patient contact
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I agree with Dr. Divneet Kaur of Multnomah County Health Department that "essential workers, people of color and people who live in multi-generational housing. Prioritizing this group is not only the most effective way to stop the spread of this virus, but it is also the most equitable."