INDIANAPOLIS — Soon, come Monday, chairs at the Raphael Health Center in the midtown area on the north side of Indianapolis will be filled with patients, awaiting their vaccination.
“We know that there are times when people won’t get here,” said Sherry Gray, CEO of Raphael Health Center. “So we’ve actually started a call list to make sure we can get every dose in every arm.”
This community-based health center will serve anyone who walks through the door, regardless of their ability to pay.
“If a patient had to take three buses and spend the whole day trying to get somewhere else, these access points are critical,” said Ben Harvey, CEO of Indiana primary healthcare association.
Centers like these, Harvey said, with 37 locations, serving 600,000 Hoosiers across the state, are safety net providers. They deliver care to areas that don’t have access to it — all the more important in the middle of a pandemic.
“The state’s been intentional about saying, “Ok we recognize that there’s going to be vaccine hesitancy, that there is difficulty in getting a message across to underserved communities, rural communities, minority communities, and health centers are that connection point,'” Harvey said.
Gray said they filled out some forms for the state health department when allocating vaccine supply. The state also looked at how many people they vaccinated for the flu and other illnesses.
“We think we can do more,” Gray said. “So I’m hoping as the supply gets added to, we will get more. But we get what we get and we just have to deal with it.”
“That’s an unknown for everybody,” Harvey said. “You just have no idea how much exists. The stockpile that was existing that doesn’t exist. You have made an estimate of when you’re going to get them but you don’t know, and that makes it all the more difficult.”
No liquid gold, as it’s been commonly referred to, will be wasted, they say. People in the neighborhood have already started signing up for the call list, and they’ve asked staff not to schedule their vaccine in case someone doesn’t show up that day.
“We have to be really careful about how we give those shots because we want that second shot to happen,” Gray said. “So we can’t overdo it. So yeah it’s quite a challenge. It’s a balancing act.”
The Raphael Health Center also does medical care, behavioral health care, dental services, and optometry. They have a lab and legal clinic.
If you’re uninsured, under-insured, homeless, or have a great insurance plan, you will be served.
