Faith Presbyterian Hospice Assists Dallas County in Administering 1000 Vaccines

Faith Presbyterian Hospice became a Dallas County vaccination partner, helping them administer 1,000 vaccinations to citizens of Dallas over a four-day period. Faith held appointment-only drive-thru vaccination clinics on March 11-12 and March 15-16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. vaccinating over 250 individuals each day.

“As a non-profit healthcare provider, we felt it incumbent upon us to do our part in caring for our community, especially during a crisis,” said Faith Presbyterian Hospice Executive Director, John Mezo. “It’s difficult to express how proud I am of the Faith Presbyterian Hospice team and their response to this effort. The team’s dedication and sense of duty to the citizens of Dallas County is remarkable. I very much appreciate each teammate and volunteer’s hard work and compassion in making this happen, and thank Forefront Living leadership for their support and encouragement.”

“Hosting this clinic means a lot for this community, the history of Faith and Forefront Living,” said Marlene Casco, director of clinical services. “We deal with death every day [at Faith] and the team got a chance to be a part of something to prevent that from happening.”

The clinics ran smoothly using traffic guards and multiple check-in stations for maximum efficiency. Many individuals showed up hours early eager to receive their vaccinations. Throughout the day, horn honking and cheering was heard from many as a way of celebrating their vaccination milestone.

“This has been a great experience,” said Adam Limburg, Faith RN case manager. “I waited a long time for my shot, so I know how it feels to finally get the vaccine. I wanted to give that feeling of relief to others.”

Volunteers from Universal Field Services, one of the largest land acquisition services companies, assisted with check-in and they received their full daily pay as a thank you for the donation of their time.

“We were so happy to have [the volunteers] join our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19,” said Ladonna Maynard. “It is a massive effort and every bit of assistance we get is potentially another life saved! I am proud to serve a company who lives its values.”

“This vaccine is a modern medicine miracle,” said volunteer, Cynthia Dooley. “I know how thrilled I was to get mine and I couldn’t be happier and grateful to be here.”

Many expressed their gratitude for the convenience of Faith’s clinic and the opportunity to be vaccinated. One recipient got out of his car and saluted the workers before leaving and another left the clinic after her allotted wait time and came back with donuts for those working the clinic.

“The people here are so grateful and appreciative,” said Melissa Larson, Faith Presbyterian Hospice in-patient unit manager. “They realize we’re on the move to eliminating this virus one shot at a time.”

Faith Presbyterian Hospice is honored to help Dallas County and plans to continue assisting them with future clinics. For more information on getting vaccinated in Dallas County, please visit dallascounty.org/covid-19. For more information about Faith Presbyterian Hospice and the T. Boone Pickens Hospice and Palliative Care Center, visit faithpreshospice.org.