The Caring Foundation of Texas began partnering with Amistad Health Center back in September. The initial partnership focused on providing adult preventive health care screenings in the rural parts of Corpus Christi in areas called a colonias. During this pandemic, this partnership has grown and now the Coastal Bend Care Van program is also providing the COVID vaccines.
Amistad Health Center, which serves about 7,000 low-income and uninsured people, has partnered with The Caring Foundation of Texas and its Care Van program to set up mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Corpus Christi and nearby Robstown. The team can inoculate about 100 people an hour.
“In the last week and a half, we’ve distributed 1,000 vaccines,” April Loveless, the program coordination for Amistad says. “The Care Van helps me to get out there and help people. Without that van, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Inoculations mostly have been limited to health care providers and support staff and nursing home residents. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently advised states to begin expanding eligibility to people age 65 and older.
“Our partnership with the Caring Foundation and the Care Van program has made a big difference,” says Dr. Eric Baggerman, Amistad’s chief executive officer. “Our outreach has improved and we’re getting to people who need our services. That’s what this partnership has really helped us do.”
“Our partnership with Amistad is important given the serious implications of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Sheena Payne, CFT’s executive director. “Their ability to deliver the vaccine to home health care workers allows us to help meet the needs of a vulnerable population in underserved and rural communities in Texas. So, we are happy to partner with an organization like Amistad to support and nurture meaningful public health endeavors across Texas.”