HEALTHCARE
24/7 Mental or Health Emergencies call 630- 553-9100
Mon.- Turs: 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fri.: 8:30 a.m. to 4:40 p.m.
www.kendallhealth.org
By mid-March, 39,352 Kendall
County residents had received their first dose of a Covid vaccine, and 11% of the county residents had received both doses, according to Kendall County Health Department statistics. Tat put Kendall County on the leading edge in the state for immunizations. “We maintain our commitment to fighting this virus,” says RaeAnn VanGundy, who has been with the Health Dept. for 19 years and became its executive director in July, 2020.
“It’s
what we’ve prepared for. I just wish the public never had to see it.” Tat preparedness began 25 years ago with a Strategic National Stockpile Plan, a Distribution Memorandum of Understanding with local schools, and a local team made up of school, local law enforcement and emergency management personnel from Plano, Oswego, Montgomery and Yorkville, and Health Dept. representatives. “We started meeting in August 2020,” RaeAnn recalled.
RaeAnn VanGundy, executive director of the Kendall County Health Dept., right, with Volunteer CoordinatorLynn Dubajic, center, and Jan Smith, left, director of Ortho/ Neuro/Peds and Rehabilitation Services at Rush Copley Healthcare, at a vaccination event at the YHS gym.
Kendall County Health Department 811 W. John St., Yorkville
“We hoped the vaccine would be available by the end of the year, but we knew nothing about it. All those years of drilling we always thought we would be doing medication dispensing, handing out medication, like for anthrax. At first, we figured it would be a drive-through, but that didn’t pan out or make sense for us. Not with our weather here in Illinois. So then we shifted gears.”
RaeAnn said they then did a walk through
at Yorkville High School and its gym and discussed layout, and how many nurses would be needed, and how many vaccine pullers would be needed to bring vaccines in with needles to those giving the shots, and how to maintain the vaccine at the correct temperature. In addition to Health Dept. personnel and the community Team, RaeAnn says many others stepped up to help. One of them was Lynn Dubajic, Yorkville’s Economic
Development advisor, who was asked by Yorkville Mayor John Purcell to offer her assistance with the distribution. Lynn signed on as
Volunteer Coordinator, helping get the 140 volunteers - 40 to 50 of them nurses - needed for each vaccination event. Lewis University, and school nurses, and the Chamber of Commerces also joined in the effort. At first, Kendall County was only slated to receive a small supply of vaccines, but RaeAnn said elected officials stepped up and contacted Gov. Pritzker’s office and the amount was raised to 4,000 more doses. When the first round of vaccinations were given out on a
Angel Ramsbottom, an RN from Hinsdale Hospital’s Pediarics, volunteering at Yorkville High School on a Senior Saturday.
“senior Saturday” in February at Yorkville High School, there were some minor hiccups, RaeAnn says. For instance, instead of showing up at their allotted time, some seniors came very early for their appointments, but soon everyone got with the plan. People faced short wait times, sometimes as little as 15 minutes. “It all fell together through the minds of many,” RaeAnn
Yorkville Chamber members Stephanie Roskoff, left, Yorkville Auto Body Shop; Sandra Hurtado, Harmony Aesthetics; and Teresa Wedeen, District 115 Photos by Paul E. Burd Photography
22
said. “It was very encouraging to see something that was on the book for 25 years come alive. Its was heartwarming, and a little surreal. What we always practiced and drilled for, all that time that we spent, it worked.”
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