With emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines imminent last December, a team of employees from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), and Faculty Physicians, Inc. (FPI) was tasked with transforming the SMC Campus Center into a vaccination site for health care workers and other front-line personnel.

This was no small feat. Not only did the group have to plan, set up, and implement a high-capacity vaccination clinic within a month’s time, it also had to do it in the middle of a pandemic and as the holidays approached.

“This group included people who had not previously all worked together,” said Christopher Stanton, MS, deputy director of the UMB Office of Emergency Management (OEM). “In very short order, the team came together as a tight-knit and highly efficient group that put the mission first.

“Their work meant time away from family during the holidays and no vacation as is traditional for UMB employees during that time of the year. One team member’s wife had a baby during this period, but after one day of leave, he was back and demonstrating his commitment and leadership in service to UMMC, UMB, and FPI.”

The team worked from Dec. 7 to Jan. 5 to plan the clinic, where workers and volunteers administered more than 27,000 vaccine shots between Jan. 6 and March 13. The SMC Campus Center clinic then transitioned to a UMB-led operation and reopened March 18.

“This partnership among three organizations was a marvelous thing to see,” said UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS. “The team’s actions during this vital period of the pandemic to set up a clinic, particularly across UMB schools and units — and also from outside the University — exemplify the UMB core value of collaboration.”

To begin the mission, Laura Cathcart, PhD, training and exercise program manager for OEM, identified the SMC Campus Center as the highest-efficiency location for a site that could vaccinate UMB, UMMC, and FPI employees as well as UMB students.

“By standing up a collaborative site, the three organizations were able to quickly vaccinate a critical percentage of their employees to help the effort to defeat COVID-19 and aid in the recovery from the pandemic,” Stanton said.

Stanton singled out team member Bill Crockett, MS, RCRSP, executive director of Student Affairs for UMB, for praise because of his extensive knowledge of the SMC Campus Center, which opened in 2009.

“Bill was part of the group that designed the center,” Stanton said. “His depth of knowledge of the facility, the culture of the organization, and aptitude for efficiency was inspirational to the team.”

— Lou Cortina

Honorable mention: TaShara Bailey, PhD, CURE Scholars Program, UMB; Council for the Arts & Culture members, UMB

Joint Vaccination Site Team Members

Maureen Archibald, MS, RN, Director, Clinical Education and Professional Development, UMMC

Kathryn Balch, RN, Heart Center-Cardiology Prep and Recovery, UMMC

Christina Bisser, MBA, Director, Performance Improvement and Quality, UMMC

Jonathan Bratt, MS, Executive Director, Office of Emergency Management, UMB

Nicholene Burgess, Senior Medical Practice Supervisor, FPI

Christina Cafeo, DNP, RN, CENP, Vice President of Patient Care Services and Associate Chief Nursing Officer, UMMC

Laura Cathcart, PhD, Training and Exercise Program Manager, Office of Emergency Management, UMB

James Chandler, MPA, Critical Resources and Logistics Program Manager, Office of Emergency Management, UMB

Brian Coats, ScD, Associate Vice President, Technology Operations and Planning, UMB

Bill Crockett, MS, RCRSP, Executive Director, Student Affairs, UMB

Marisol De Leon, PharmD, MBA, Director of Pharmacy Operations, UMMC

Juliet Dickerson, MS, Interim Associate Vice President, Human Resource Services, UMB

Joseph Dicubellis, RPh, MPH, Senior Director of Pharmacy Services, UMMS; Senior Director of Pharmacy, UMMC

Karen Doyle, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Senior Vice President, Nursing and Operations, UMMC

Chad Ellis, Acting Deputy Chief, UMB Police Department

Danielle Evans, MS, BA, RN, CCRN, NE-BC, Clinical Practice and Development Coordinator, UMMC

Evette Everett, BSN, RN, Clinical Nurse, UMMC

Cynthia Feeley, MBA, Operations Executive, FPI

Tyrell Fleming, Lieutenant, UMB Police Department

Mia Forbes, Epic Business Operations Analyst, FPI

Cora Goecke, RN, CPPS, Senior Leader, Performance Innovation, UMMC

Stacey Graves, RN, Clinical Nurse, UMMC

Mangla Gulati, MD, CPPS, FACP, SFHM, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, UMB; Chief Quality Officer, Associate Chief Medical Officer, and Vice President of Patient Safety and Clinical Effectiveness, UMMC

Madison Haas, MSW, Economic Inclusion Coordinator, Office of Community Engagement, UMB

Jimmy Heiner, MS, Associate Director of Operations, URecFit, UMB

Paul Jaravata, Director of Practice Operations, Family and Community Medicine, FPI

Diana Johnson, PT, MS, Senior Director, Patient Care Services, UMMC

Jane Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN, Bill and Joanne Conway Dean, School of Nursing, UMB

Cherokee Layson-Wolf, PharmD, BCACP, FAPhA, Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Student Affairs, School of Pharmacy, UMB

Jennifer Lepus, MA, BSN, RN, TCRN, Quality Improvement Coordinator, Perioperative and Procedural Services, UMMC

Cynthia Little, Director, Registration and Scheduling Training and Support, FPI

Mario Majette, MD, Clinical Instructor, Family and Community Medicine, and Director of Student and Employee Health, School of Medicine, UMB

Hayley Markman, MPA, Continuity of Operations Program Manager, Office of Emergency Management, UMB

Gregory Mesa, MSPT, COMPT, Manager, Department of Rehabilitation Services, UMMC

Christina Miller, Aesthetician, Otorhinolaryngology-Facial Plastics, FPI

Jill A. Morgan, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS, FNAP, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, School of Pharmacy, UMB

Carin Morrell, MA, Public Information Officer, UMB Police Department and Office of Emergency Management

Rachel Reynolds, MBA, MS, PMP, PMI-ACP, Program Director, Division of Quality and Safety, UMMC

Christopher Stanton, MS, Deputy Director, Office of Emergency Management, UMB

Richie Stever, CHFM, Director of Operations and Maintenance, UMMC

Victoria Stewart, MBA, Senior Director of Business Operations, Perioperative and Procedural Services, UMMC

Jessica Wehle, MPH, Senior Performance Improvement Leader, UMMC

Shane West, DHSc, PMP, LSSBB, Senior Clinical Performance Improvement Consultant, UMMS

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