Ascension Providence expands COVID-19 vaccinations to McLennan County residents
The healthcare provider said it s working with local pharmacies, school districts and non-profits in addition to combing through patient records to get vaccines out. Author: Celeste Houmard (6News), Andrew Moore Published: 9:30 PM CST January 29, 2021 Updated: 5:06 AM CST February 1, 2021
WACO, Texas Ascension Providence announced Friday it has new plans to expand vaccine coverage in McLennan County and beyond.
Chief Medical Officer Brian Becker told reporters Wednesday the hospital system had struggled to set up a registration point for the community but had already vaccinated more than 8,500 frontline caregivers and hospital patients in accordance with the Texas Department of State Health Services guidelines.
Wacoâs hospitals are managing a rising number of COVID-19 patients and plan to administer their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine Friday and Saturday to employees, officials said Wednesday during a weekly city press conference.
Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center plans to give its first shots Friday, Dr. Marc Elieson said. Ascension Providence Medical Center plans to follow suit Saturday, said Dr. Richard Haskett, chief medical officer of Ascension Medical Group Providence in Waco. Elieson and Haskett each said their systemâs Waco hospital is seeing the effects of uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus.
The hospitals were treating 119 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, a new high, according to the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District. Several days now with more than 100 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Waco is a worrying sign, Waco Family Health Center CEO Dr. Jackson Griggs said.