CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oak Street Health (NYSE: OSH), a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare, is working with the City of Chicago and Cook County to expedite efforts to vaccinate healthcare workers across greater Chicagoland. In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the minority communities Oak Street Health serves, the organization turned six clinics into all-day vaccination distribution centers for the city’s healthcare workers who lack access to the vaccine.
“Oak Street Health is on a mission to rebuild healthcare as it should be, and along with providing equitable, accessible and personal care, that means being a force for good in the communities we serve,” said Dr. Ali Khan, Executive Medical Director of Oak Street Health. “Stepping up to vaccinate our fellow healthcare workers, in partnership with the City of Chicago and Cook County, is both our privilege and an extension of our mission. The older adults we serve, especially in Black and Latino neighborhoods, have a historical mistrust in vaccines and it is our duty to contribute to the number of people who can help ease their fear.”
Oak Street Health has already vaccinated more than 500 of its own employees and more than 1,800 additional healthcare workers. On Monday alone, the organization vaccinated nearly 1,000 more healthcare workers across the city, accomplishing in one day what would otherwise take one week. Oak Street Health will continue operating after-hour night clinics to accommodate the ongoing demand from eligible 1a healthcare workers from other organizations who don’t have access. The company will also begin vaccinating its high-risk patients and those 65 years of age and older as the region transitions into Phase 1b, based on vaccine supply. Eligible patients and community members can sign-up here.
“We’re excited to partner with organizations like Oak Street Health in the distribution of this vaccine that is absolutely key to helping us overcome this pandemic,” said Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D. “Oak Street Health shares our equity-based focus that prioritizes the people and communities that have been most impacted by the virus. We’re working closely with such community-based partners to get the vaccine where it’s needed most.”
"Vaccinating 2.5 million suburban Cook County residents is an enormous task and we are so grateful for partners in the community, such as Oak Street Health, and we thank them for their leadership," said Dr. Rachel Rubin, Co-lead of the Cook County Department of Public Health. "Dr. King asked us 'What are you doing for others' and in his honor and spirit, together we will accomplish this great task."
Oak Street Health has the capacity to vaccinate 10,000 seniors weekly in the Chicagoland area when vaccine supply is available. To learn more about Oak Street Health, click here.
Source: Oak Street Health
About Oak Street Health
Founded in 2012, Oak Street Health is a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare. With a mission of rebuilding healthcare as it should be, the company operates an innovative healthcare model focused on quality of care over volume of services, and assumes the full financial risk of its patients. Oak Street Health currently operates more than 75 centers across Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Indiana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, New York and Mississippi. To learn more about Oak Street Health’s proven approach to care, visit oakstreethealth.com.
