COVID-19 Vaccine Sign-Up Locations and Northshore COVID-19 Vaccine Update

Dedication Health

COVID VACCINE SIGN-UP LOCATIONS:

This information is sent on behalf of Sean T. O’Grady, Chief Operating Officer and Lakshmi Halasyamani, MD, Chief Medical Officer. 

Phase 1B COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Update

NorthShore will begin administering vaccines as a part of our System Phase 1b roll-out efforts this week. In response to the request of public health officials, NorthShore entities will focus efforts on our patients 65 and older. Across NorthShore Legacy, Swedish and Northwest Community, there are over 300,000 individuals aligned with our system who are 65 and over. Each of our entities has developed an operational plan that best meets the needs of the communities we serve. While the amount of vaccine we will receive remains unclear and it will take several weeks to recruit staff to fill our vaccine operations, NorthShore is ramping up capacity to provide vaccines at regional clinics in Evanston, Lake Bluff, Northbrook, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove and in the City of Chicago on the Swedish campus.

Last week, NorthShore began communicating with eligible 1b individuals about next steps in the process. We also communicated with individuals who are not in 1b about our efforts. In the coming days, eligible individuals in 1b will receive additional electronic communication to complete a pre-visit assessment and more information about appointment scheduling. Initially, all vaccine clinic appointments will need to be scheduled via NorthShoreConnect.  This electronic platform allows us to most effectively and expeditiously distribute the vaccines allotted to the system.  Patients will not be able to schedule for vaccines over the phone, on northshore.org, or through individual physician offices until later in our 1b roll-out.  Please see the information provided below to support individuals who do not have NorthShoreConnect but are interested in receiving a vaccine from NorthShore.

We appreciate your help educating your team members, friends and family about our vaccination efforts. We realize that there is great enthusiasm to receive the vaccine, but it will take many months to serve the large number of people 65 and over in our system.  The Pulse link below provides additional vaccination plan information for your reference.

How to Support Patients Without NorthShoreConnect or Access to email

We are aware that some of our patients either do not have access to email or NorthShoreConnect or are reluctant to sign up for NorthShoreConnect. Below are two steps to address patient needs:

  1. If you receive calls from existing patients who are eligible for the vaccine (age 65 and older) but are not yet active on NorthShoreConnect, please encourage them to sign up for NorthShoreConnect on their phone or computer. Team members who have NorthShoreConnect admin security are able to send an instant activation link through EPIC by following the instructions here.
  2. If the patient is unable to sign up for NorthShoreConnect, we have created a mechanism to capture their name and telephone number. Please click here or use the link below to submit the patient’s information. Note: We are working on options beyond NorthShoreConnect for scheduling vaccine appointments but those options will be rolled out later in our 1b work plan. We will provide updates when available.

 https://www.northshore.org/covid-19-information-resources/covid-19-vaccine-contact-list/

As you can imagine, this process will continue to evolve as we begin to stand up our patient vaccine clinics.  As more options for scheduling outside of NorthShoreConnect become available, we will continue to keep you updated.  We appreciate you sharing this Phase 1B COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Update with members of your team.

Thank you.