UPMC begins vaccinations in Pittsburgh area senior communities

When Nancy Fadgen was offered the covid-19 vaccine, she said yes “without reservations.”

“If we want this to go far, somebody has to take the step forward and try it,” the 79-year-old resident at UPMC Heritage Place said.

UPMC began vaccinating residents and staff in its senior communities Tuesday – starting with UPMC Heritage Place in Squirrel Hill. Dr. David Nace, chief medical officer of UPMC Senior Communities, said the system is prioritizing skilled nursing facilities for immunizations.

UPMC is participating in the federal pharmacy partnership, like most other long-term care facilities in the state. The federal government partnered with CVS Health and Walgreens to conduct vaccination clinics in facilities nationwide. But UPMC, while part of the program, will be using its own pharmacy to administer vaccines, Nace said. The vaccines are being delivered to each facility by Rx Partners, Inc., a long-term care pharmacy services provider in the region and a subsidiary of UPMC.

“That allows us a lot of flexibility that we didn’t have with the other program,” Nace said, noting that administering this way is a tremendous staff commitment that not every facility can swing. “We can identify what dates, we can identify which facilities would be best to start first and also would allow us to go back more frequently.”

There are roughly 3,000 older adults and a “slightly greater number” of staff members across all UPMC senior living communities. Nace is hopeful that between 60% and 80% of each category will opt into being vaccinated. So far, the population in Heritage Place has been incredibly optimistic, he said – more people chose to be vaccinated Tuesday than he was expecting. He described a “buzz” going around the facility, and predicted that close to a hundred doses would be administered by the end of the day.

“It’s not so much for myself,” said Autum DeParasis, an advanced geriatric licensed practical nurse at Heritage Place. DeParasis worked in the “red zone” of Heritage Place when the facility had three covid-positive residents. Luckily, she said, those cases were mild.

“It’s to help keep other people safe, to help keep my family safe, to help keep residents safe. If I don’t get it, then I can’t pass it along,” DeParasis said.

Nace said the pharmacy just received its first allocation of doses a few days ago, and there are still many logistics to work out. The system wants to prioritize skilled nursing because they are considered the most at-risk population, but must factor in staffing levels amid the holiday season. Additionally, he said, the vaccination team wants to avoid places with active outbreaks, knowing that administering the doses might interfere with treatment procedures.

There are a lot of moving parts, Nace said. UPMC is starting with Heritage Place and will move to two other facilities – Canterbury Place in Lawrenceville and Cranberry Place – later this week. Heritage Place will receive more doses on Thursday.

Much is still uncertain – the system can’t guarantee they’ll get the exact amount of doses they request, on the timeline they’d prefer. But Nace said he’s optimistic that all residents and staff who want a vaccine could get their first dose by the end of January. The majority of skilled nursing residents and staff should have their first dose by the end of next week.

“What we could see today was that recognition, that excitement,” Nace said. “This, to me, is really the beginning of the end.”