More Northwest Indiana hospitals will start to administer COVID-19 vaccinations Friday in what s being called a momentous moment.
Just days after Community Hospital in Munster started vaccinating the first health care workers in Northwest Indiana, Methodist Hospitals in Gary and Merrillville and Franciscan Health hospitals in Crown Point, Hammond and Michigan City will start inoculating more front line health care workers against the coronavirus that s killed more than 1.6 million people worldwide, including more than 300,000 Americans.
âThis is a monumental moment for the healthcare industry,  said Dean Mazzoni, president and CEO of Franciscan Health Michigan City. Protecting the people who have been on the very front lines is giving them one more tool to successfully wage this war with a renewed peace of mind that they are protected.
A new crop of volunteers was sworn in for the Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults, or VASIA, program at Franciscan Health â Hammond.
The guardianship and elder law advocacy program was established in 2001 as a collaboration between the hospital and Lake County Superior Courts. It trains and supervisors volunteers who serve as court-appointed legal guardians for the elderly and incapacitated, helping the courts with decision-making.Â
Lake Superior Court Probate Commissioner Ben Ballou swore in eight volunteers from Lake County last month. Each works with one client at a time after completing 40 hours of training, which was virtual this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.