Confluence Health Foundation Uses COVID-19 Donations to Promote Vaccine Equity

The Confluence Health Foundation’s Board of Trustees has approved funding for a new vaccination effort at Confluence Health that will improve the access and uptake of the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines among the Latinx community.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color. Locally, the Latinx community has seen significantly higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death from the disease. Despite being hit hard by the virus, vaccine uptake among the Latinx community in North Central Washington lags.

Starting March 1, 2021, the Confluence Health Foundation will be funding an effort that will promote culturally relevant outreach and education and creation of a community vaccine clinic at Central Washington Hospital. The goal of the effort is to break down barriers to vaccine uptake and improve vaccination rates among the Latinx community.

This effort will be led by Teresa Bendito, owner of Teresita’s Consulting, along with five Madrinas de Salud, or godmothers of health. Together, they will work to partner with local businesses, churches, and community groups to provide accurate and relevant communication about the vaccine’s safety, efficacy, and availability.

In some cases, the factors limiting vaccinations are the logistics, such as transportation or scheduling. To address these concerns, Teresa and her team will also serve as resource navigators, coordinating transportation or scheduling people for the vaccines.

This effort is made possible because of generous donations to the Confluence Health Foundation. Since March 2020, the Foundation has been raising money to address COVID-19 response efforts at Confluence Health. Members of the community that would like to help support this and other COVID-19 response initiatives can visit confluencehealthfoundation.org to donate or to find out more about the Foundation’s programs.