Want COVID vaccine? You might be eligible at one of these Kansas City-area hospitals
While residents across the metro are trying in vain to get COVID-19 vaccinations through their county health departments, they may have another option: area hospitals.
The University of Kansas Health System, Truman Medical Centers and Olathe Health are signing up patients in their health systems for the vaccine, and others are making plans to do so soon.
“There’s one problem with the vaccine and that is there’s too little of it,” Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said Tuesday during KU’s daily COVID-19 briefing.
He said he was not optimistic about seeing an “uptick in doses” soon.
This week, for instance, the state of Kansas has about 45,000 doses to share among 105 counties, Norman said. “Because if we get more vaccine coming in, we can do the mass vaccination clinics,” he said, where 1,500 to 2,000 doses can be given out in a day.
He said that by Wednesday the state should have a map of vaccination locations posted on its COVID-19 website, kansasvaccine.gov.
Missouri state health officials posted their map last week and announced they would establish nine mass vaccination centers — when supplies become available.
Norman said the state is sending out vaccine to every local health department in the state. Many county health departments in the metro, including Johnson, Clay and Wyandotte, have online vaccine surveys for residents and workers.
Two vaccination events on Tuesday demonstrated the local interest. Seniors lined up outside the Okun Fieldhouse in Shawnee, where the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment began its next phase of vaccinations, targeting people 80 and older.
On the Missouri side, Truman Medical Centers/University Health took the vaccine on the road. The hospital system has been working with faith-based groups on COVID-19 prevention and testing, and vaccinations at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church were the next step.
If your doctor is affiliated with one of these health systems, you might be eligible to sign up for vaccines through them at some point.
University of Kansas Health System
Only patients 65 and older — eligible under Phase 2 of the Kansas plan — who have been seen by a doctor affiliated with the system in the last three years will be invited to schedule a vaccination for now, hospital officials say. Invitations are sent based on the supply of vaccine.
Vaccinations will take place in a new clinic at the hospital’s Kansas City, Kansas, campus, and at its Indian Creek campus, 10730 Nall Ave. in Overland Park. No date has been set yet for the opening of the Johnson County site.
Depending on vaccine availability, each clinic will be able to vaccinate up to 5,000 patients a week.
The hospital is also working out a way to vaccinate people who are not patients of the health system, said hospital spokeswoman Jill Chadwick.
People who are not patients, or have not been seen in more than three years, can fill out a form at kansashealthsystem.com/COVIDVaccineForm and will get directions on what to do next if they are eligible to receive the vaccine.
Truman Medical Centers/University Health
Truman is also reaching out to patients who are 65 and older — eligible under Missouri’s current distribution phase — to schedule vaccinations at its downtown location and Lakewood campus when doses become available.
Appointments for eligible people already stretch into March, Charlie Shields, president and CEO, said last week.
“We had a self-scheduling portal on our website that we scheduled several (people) on,” said Shields. “And then we shut that down because we did not want it to get overwhelmed … build expectations that we couldn’t achieve.”
Appointments now are being taken by phone — 816-404-2273 (CARE)— and are available 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
Olathe Health
Once doses are available, Olathe Health patients 65 and older can make an appointment online through the health system’s Patient Portal. Anyone who doesn’t have a portal account can call their primary care provider to set up one.
Appointments will be made based on what groups are eligible at the time. The hospital system will notify patients when doses arrive and appointments are available, and cautioned that supplies from the state will be limited.
HCA Midwest
When it receives a larger supply of vaccine, the hospital system will contact its patients directly to schedule appointments, said Christine Hamele, spokeswoman for Kansas City’s largest health care system, which includes Overland Park, Research, Menorah, Belton Regional, Centerpoint and Lee’s Summit medical centers.
“We know the COVID-19 vaccine is critical in ending this pandemic, and we’re eager to administer as many vaccines as possible,” Hamele said in a statement.
“We’ve only received enough supply to vaccinate our healthcare workers and first responders at this time. However, we’re working closely with our state partners to gauge vaccine availability and will expand vaccinations accordingly following state and county tiering guidance.”
Saint Luke’s Health System
Saint Luke’s will reach out to its patients once it receives more vaccine, hospital officials said. In the meantime, it is advising patients to:
▪ Keep tabs on the website, saintlukeskc.com, and follow the hospital system’s social media channels for information about vaccine availability and scheduling. Patients who don’t have access to the internet will be reached by phone or mail.
▪ Make sure their MySaintLukes patient portal is activated.
▪ Take advantage of any chance to get the vaccine if possible before the hospital can schedule them.
AdventHealth Shawnee Mission
“We are not having our patients sign up yet but plan to have that process available later this week,” said AdventHealth spokesman Morgan Shandler.
State health officials recently told the hospital it will be alerted on Wednesdays what its vaccine allocation will be for the following week. “We are waiting to build out our schedule until we know exactly how many doses we have,” said Shandler.
North Kansas City Hospital
The hospital is not currently administering vaccines to patients or the general public, but will provide updates as more information becomes available, said hospital spokeswoman Libby Hastert.
Any vaccine the hospital receives right now is being given to members of the public and hospital affiliates eligible under Missouri’s distribution plan, phases that include health care workers and first responders.
Patients 65 and older, or with qualifying health conditions eligible for the next phase, are advised to check with their county health department, the hospital’s website says at nkch.org/vaccine.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 4:00 PM.
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