BACKGROUND:
Wenatchee is a small (^50,000) community in North Central Washington State (NCW) that serves as a regional health care delivery hub for 200,000 persons in 4 surrounding counties. Wenatchee Valley Medical Center (WVMC) is a physician owned medical center located at 7 sites in NCW. The Chelan-Douglas County Health District is the public health jurisdiction for Wenatchee. WVMC has had 3 years experience targeting high-risk patients for influenza vaccination utilizing vaccine registries. Faced with the challenge of a vaccine shortage, WVMC and CDHD convened a multi-partner community task force to coordinate vaccine delivery to highest risk patients.

OBJECTIVE:
The objective was to identify, notify, and equitably administer the available vaccine to the highest of high-risk patients in a timely and efficient manner.

METHOD:
WVMC and CDHD convened a diverse panel of local providers, pharmacists, and public health officers to address the vaccine shortage. Total community vaccine inventory was assessed; inventories were pooled; registry rolls and consensus guidelines were developed for stratification of patients according to highest risk. The initial workgroup meeting on 10/05/2004 was reconvened on 12/1/2004 for a community status report and consensus development of further plans.

RESULT:
Notifications of vaccine clinics were mailed to identified high-risk patients. Community education included a media campaign of local newspapers and radio stations. Public education materials were developed focusing on flu prevention, hand, respiratory hygiene, and development of a public Flu Vaccine Hotline and influenza list-serve for providers. The initial WVMC risk flu registry report identified 28,000 patients at high risk, 4,800 patients in the “highest” high-risk category. Initial WVMC influenza vaccine inventory was 2000 doses, 3700 doses were received through health district redistribution

CONCLUSION:
Cooperative efforts between local and regional public health jurisdictions, hospitals, and providers effectively minimized the impact of the 2004-5 influenza vaccine shortage.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Describe the importance of an active Disease Management Program and Patient Registry
Describe the importance of community education and communication in a time of perceived crisis.
Describe process for initiating an emergency response team to meet serious health threats to the community