TO: Ballad Health All
FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center
DATE: Jan. 5, 2021
TITLE: COVID-19 community vaccination centers now open for select patient populations
ACTION: Read, cascade and share with eligible team members and BHMA patients
To read this message in PDF format, click here.
Following a weeks-long endeavor to provide as many team members, physicians, volunteers and contract employees – as well as many community healthcare providers – as possible with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, Ballad Health is now poised to be one of the first health systems in the country to start offering the vaccine to eligible community members.
Beginning this week, the Tennessee Department of Health has approved COVID-19 vaccine distribution to anyone older than 75. This effort is led by our regional health departments, and Ballad Health is assisting them by offering the vaccine to any patient who is older than age 75 and established with one of our Tennessee-based Ballad Health Medical Associates providers.
Additional information about community vaccination efforts in Virginia is forthcoming.
If you know someone who qualifies for the COVID-19 vaccine and would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please encourage them to contact their Tennessee-based Ballad Health Medical Associates provider, this includes primary care, specialists and urgent care centers. The vaccine is available free of charge for all patients in this category and they will not be billed for the service, however, Ballad Health will file it with their insurance company.
If you are a team member and still want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, you have until the close of the facility POD’s (point of delivery) locations in Tennessee at BRMC, JCMC or HVMC or in Virginia at JMH or NCH, during the operating hours on Saturday, Jan. 9, to walk-in for the first dose of the vaccine. The facility POD schedule is listed at the end of this memo, and please remember to bring your Ballad Health badge, wear a mask and remain six feet away from others. If you elect to receive the first dose of the vaccine after this date, you will then go to one of the community vaccination centers located in Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport. The PODs will remain open for the distribution of the second dose only beyond Jan. 9.
After Jan. 9, all new hires will have the opportunity to visit a community vaccination center during operating hours to receive their vaccine during their orientation period. No appointment necessary.
Community vaccination centers open on Tuesday, Jan. 5, by appointment only, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., and on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The centers will be located at:
- Bristol: Bristol Regional Medical Center conference center
- 1 Medical Park Boulevard, Bristol, TN
- Johnson City: The Wellness Center
- 200 Med Tech Parkway, Johnson City, TN
- Kingsport: Indian Path Community Hospital, Building 2205 (behind main hospital building)
- 2205 Brookside Drive, Kingsport, TN
As with Ballad Health team members’ vaccinations, the vaccines for community members must be administered in two doses, with the second following either 21 (Pfizer) or 28 (Moderna) days after the first. Vaccine center team members will schedule the second appointment when patients check in for the first one.
Also, when community members arrive at the community vaccination center, they must bring an ID and insurance card, if they have one, wear a mask at all times and remain six feet away from others.
After community members receive their vaccine, they will be observed for at least 15 minutes to ensure there are no serious side effects. So far, Ballad Health has administered more than 10,000 vaccines, and none of our vaccine recipients have reported any significant or life-threatening adverse reactions.
If you or a team member has additional vaccine-related questions, please contact 423-302-6999 or BalladHealthCorporateEOC@balladhealth.org.
Thank you and have a wonderful day.
Facility POD locations (Ballad Health team members and community healthcare workers only)
JCMC – 7th floor auditoriums
BRMC – Lower level conference center
HVMC – B Building; Take the B elevators to the 3rd floor
JMH – Medical Office Building, 1st Floor
NCH – Urgent Care beside the Emergency Department
REMEMBER: Vaccine PODs will only be available until Saturday, Jan. 9. Any team members who would like to receive their first COVID-19 vaccines after that date should refer to the community vaccination center schedules.
POD hours of operation (Ballad Health team members and community healthcare workers only)
