Dutchess County Continues Partnership with
CareMount Medical to Vaccinate Homebound Seniors
Seniors can call (845) 486-2555 to learn more about collaboration
Poughkeepsie, NY … The Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health (DBCH) and the Office for the Aging (OFA) continue to partner with CareMount Medical to travel to homebound and frail seniors throughout Dutchess County and administer COVID-19 vaccinations in their residences. More than 100 homebound and frail seniors have received vaccinations through this collaboration.
DBCH has provided CareMount with vaccine doses to administer to seniors – they need not be CareMount patients to receive these vaccinations – and OFA has given the medical provider the names and addresses of these residents to give them their inoculations in their homes. Additionally, Public Health Nurses from the OFA are traveling to frail seniors to administer vaccinations to them, having already vaccinated 35 seniors in their homes.
County Executive Marc Molinaro said, “Seniors are not only the most susceptible to the most severe effects of COVID-19, they are also some of the most isolated of our residents for fear of contracting the disease. Dutchess County is proud to bring this life-saving vaccine to these most vulnerable residents right where they live, offering these shots in the comfort of their home to allay any fears they might have about traveling. We thank CareMount leadership for its willingness to collaborate with us and provide resources and personnel to help efficiently vaccinate our seniors in their homes.”
Seniors can call the OFA at (845) 486-2555 to learn more about this partnership.
Lewis Kohl, DO, Chief Medical Information Officer, Senior Medical Director and Chief Safety Officer at CareMount Medical, said, “With many of our patients and practices in Dutchess County, we are pleased to partner with Dutchess County Government on this important initiative, to vaccinate the most vulnerable seniors who are unable to leave their homes to receive the vaccine. We will continue to collaborate on ways to get the COVID-19 vaccine out to as many people as possible. These efforts align with CareMount’s mission to deliver patient-centered, high-quality care, close to home.”
Other County efforts to vaccinate seniors include pop-up sites throughout Dutchess County and calling seniors on the DBCH waiting list to update their status so they can receive an appointment sooner. Earlier this month, for example, OFA collaborated with Rite Aid to hose a pop-up clinic for seniors in and around Rhinebeck at the Community at Brookmeade. DBCH and OFA will expand the County’s outreach to vaccinate vulnerable residents where they reside by coordinating with various senior housing complexes, as well as hosting pop-up clinics in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Additional information about Dutchess County’s efforts to vaccinate residents is available at dutchessny.gov/covidvaccine, where residents can learn about County- and State-operated vaccination sites, as well as vaccination allocations for other local sites, including pharmacies, hospitals, medical providers, federally qualified health centers, physician networks, and Veterans Affairs facilities.
Residents are also encouraged to fill out DBCH’s Vaccine Information Request Form to receive a notification when a vaccine appointment is available to them at a County-operated vaccination site, as well as weekly updates about New York State’s allocations to other area vaccine providers including pharmacies where they may have the opportunity to make an appointment. Residents who had previously signed up for the Vaccine Information Request Form, but who have since received their vaccination, as asked to remove their name from the waiting list via dutchessny.gov/gotmyvaccine so others can receive an appointment more quickly.
