The University of Maryland Medical System has been awarded a state grant of nearly $3 million to expand its work on COVID-19 mobile vaccination outreach for vulnerable populations across the System’s footprint.
The grant funds will be used to expand the System’s mobile vaccination program, launched last month, where vaccination teams are deployed to communities served by the System’s acute-care hospitals. So far, the mobile teams have provided nearly 8,000 vaccinations at almost 80 clinics, including businesses, churches, schools and senior housing communities.
“Vaccines are the path out of the pandemic, and for the most vulnerable, underserved and hard to reach individuals who can’t come to us, we are going to them,” said Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, President and CEO of UMMS.
The $2,954,595 COVID-19 Community Vaccination Funding Program grant awarded to UMMS from Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission will allow the System to expand its program by approximately 53,000 additional vaccinations targeting 34 ZIP codes across Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Harford, Kent, Prince Georges and Queen Anne’s counties. The ZIP codes were identified by working with data from Maryland’s Vaccine Equity Task Force, the state’s CRISP health information exchange and community health partners such as local health departments, community non-profit organizations and faith-based organizations.
“The mobile teams are an effective way of reaching vulnerable populations in rural, suburban and urban areas, each of which has their own unique challenges and residents who may not be able to travel to a fixed vaccination site,” said Donna Jacobs, Senior Vice President, Government, Regulatory Affairs and Community Health for UMMS. “We are focused on vaccinations from the equity lens, working to ensure equal access to potentially lifesaving shots.”
Through hospital-based clinics and at the mass vaccination sites the System is operating in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health (Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital and M&T Bank Stadium), UMMS has administered more than 560,000 COVID first, second and single (J&J) dose vaccines so far, the most of any hospital System in the state.
About the University of Maryland Medical System
The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is a university-based regional health care system focused on serving the health care needs of Maryland, bringing innovation, discovery and research to the care we provide and educating the state’s future physician and health care professionals through our partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore professional schools (Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Dentistry) in Baltimore. As one of the largest private employers in the State, the health system’s more than 29,500 employees and 4,000 affiliated physicians provide primary and specialty care in more than 150 locations, including 13 hospitals and 9 University of Maryland Urgent Care centers. The UMMS flagship academic campus, the University of Maryland Medical Center in downtown Baltimore, is recognized regionally and nationally for excellence and innovation in specialized care. Our acute care and specialty rehabilitation hospitals serve urban, suburban and rural communities and are located in 13 counties across the State. For more information, visit www.umms.org.
