Senior Care Coordination
The Senior Care Coordination program at Bethany Community Ministries seeks to address the medical and non-medical gaps that exist for seniors in our area. Our services specifically focus on Black and Brown seniors residing in congregate housing.
Knowing that the seniors in our community would be particularly vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, we partnered with medical providers to bring health literacy education and vaccine resources directly to them. We've expanded this work significantly, offering vaccines to people of all ages across the region.
In the fall of 2020, Bethany Community Ministries developed the Senior Care Coordination Program to provide flu shots to seniors.
Before COVID-19 was a factor, seniors in congregate housing were already vulnerable to the spread of contagious illnesses like Influenza. BCM was able to facilitate 12 Flu clinics before COVID-19 vaccines became available. In February 2021, we pivoted to holding COVID-19 vaccinations at locations easily accessible to community members, such as in churches, community centers and public housing facilities and vaccinating seniors in their senior congregate housing facilities. We've since held hybrid clinics where both COVID and Flu vaccines are available, since healthy individuals can receive both at once!
348 Vaccine Clinics
since we began our vaccination work in December 2020
7,436 COVID Shots
in the Pittsburgh region, both in Allegheny and Beaver counties
397 Flu Shots
administered to people of all ages, as young as 6 months old
1,232 Screenings
conducted in our community vaccine clinics across the city
Our COVID-19 and Flu vaccine programs have grown significantly, reaching communities in Allegheny county and beyond.
To date, BCM has coordinated the facilitation of 348 vaccination clinics and supported the administration of 7,436 COVID-19 vaccines and 397 Flu shots -- and counting! Many of these were delivered on site in senior congregate housing facilities throughout Allegheny County, but we've also hosted events in community settings, schools, and churches to make vaccines as accessible as possible to anyone who needs one. We've also provided 1,232 health screenings, and have expanded our vaccine offerings to include pneumonia, shingles, and tetanus shots. In keeping with our original goals, we focus our efforts in marginalized communities with significant Black and Brown populations. We've expanded our reach as far as Beaver Falls, PA!