SCMA is working closely with the Sonoma County Department of Public Health to ensure that ALL tiers are vaccinated in a timely manner. As you know, regional hospitals have received allotments of vaccines and continue to vaccinate their providers and medical staff.
I am working to support our solo/small and medium size practices outside of these systems to make sure physicians and forward facing medical staff receive vaccinations as quickly as possible.
Here is my initial advice for all physicians and med staff not affiliated with a hospital group: Call your hospital affiliated primary care provider. Remind them that you are in Tier 1A and would like to receive a vaccine. (Note: Counties are tasked with getting as Tier 1 completed in the next 10 days.) Your provider should make every effort to get you in for a vaccine fairly quickly. [I tried this today with a local physician who is a Kaiser-insured patient. She reported back this afternoon that she was able to get a message to her PCP, who returned her call and got her in for a vaccine this afternoon. Easy peasy!] I hope many of you have the same response.
A Sutter Representative advised me today that they are beginning a vaccine clinic on Wednesday in Santa Rosa and will be reaching out to their "insureds" for vaccines shortly. If you have Sutter medical coverage, please contact your PCP to get scheduled for the vaccine as soon as Sutter is at the stage in their process.
I am working with St. Joseph to confirm hopefully a similar process. The County has been approached by Safeway Pharmacies who would like to help with the vaccination tiers. We are following any lead we can to help guide you. Please stay tuned for details as they are finalized.
To assist us in our continuing planning process, please respond to the survey below. Your response will help us move quickly to help you obtain (both doses) of your vaccination so you can take care of your patients. Please take the survey.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at exec@scma.org or 707-620-0808. I may not immediately know the answer to your question, but will try to find out as quickly as possible. It was put to me this way: "We are building the plane as we are flying it," and that has never been more true than of trying to vaccinate the community. We ALL appreciate your patience. Please know that we are having daily communications on this topic. As always, SCMA is here in service to our medical professionals and our community!
---- Wendy Young, Executive Director
Please click on this link to take a quick 3-minute survey:
