Elms College and Big Y partner to provide COVID-19 vaccinations

Feb. 24, 2021 | Carolyn Noel
cnoel@thereminder.com

More than 200 Elms College School of Nursing students are helping give COVID-19 vaccinations at sites coordinated by Big Y.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

CHICOPEE – With people struggling to sign up for appointments and spots filling quickly, vaccination rollout has not gone as smoothly in Massachusetts as many would have hoped. To help, Big Y and Elms College have partnered to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to eligible residents at two local locations.

One vaccination clinic is set up at the former site of Staples in the East Longmeadow Big Y Plaza. The other is located in a former mattress store in the Greenfield Big Y Plaza. Since the clinics began on Feb. 6, they have run at least three times a week.

“We can tell you that we’ve vaccinated more than 1,000 people,” said Kathleen Pont, M.S.N, ANP-BC, director of the Elms College Accelerated Second Degree in Nursing program.

The vaccinations are being given out by more than 200 sophomore, junior and senior year Elms College nursing students. The students represent both the undergraduate nursing program as well as the RN to BSN, Master of Nursing, and Accelerated Second Degree in Nursing programs. The students work under the supervision of Elms College School of Nursing faculty.

According to Clinic Coordinator and Assistant Clinical Nursing Professor, Deana Nunes, MSN, RN, CWCN, the clinics offer nursing students a way to get both hands-on experience and also give back to the community.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity. Not only are our students meeting their clinical objects but they are providing an incredible community service. Elms College is very committed to our mission and it aligns with our mission of caring for our community. We are very often involved in different service activities and this is just a perfect match of students being able to provide for the community and meet their own personal clinical objectives. It’s been a fantastic collaboration,” she said.

This collaboration was started by Dr. Harry Dumay, president of Elms College, and Claire D’Amour-Daley, vice president of corporate communications at Big Y. According to Nunes, D’Amour-Daley told Dumay of Big Y’s plans to set up clinics and asked if Elms College nursing students would be interested in participating. Dumay referred this question to the nursing department and the leadership team took it from there.

“Dr. Dumay made that connection for us, but we’ve been working with their pharmacist and their operations managers and store managers. We have weekly meetings to see how many vaccinations they have and how many they’re expecting, how many clinics they’re going to have and how many students we can provide. We’re creating a schedule based on clinical assignments as well as students who are volunteering to staff those clinics,” said Nunes.

Elms College students are also helping those eligible for the vaccine make their appointment over the phone. According to Nunes, the entire process from signing up for an appointment to receiving the vaccine is quick and easy.  

“There are no waiting lines, things are really moving quickly and the response from the public is amazing. They’re tearful, they’re gracious, they’re so appreciative of the students. It’s just been a great interaction to see,” she said.

According to Steve Nordstrom, pharmacy director at Big Y Supermarket, more Big Y vaccination sites will also be added in the future.

“Big Y has identified additional sites for future clinics and these will be operational as soon as enough vaccine supply is available,” he said in a press release.

Sign-ups for the vaccination at Big Y sites are completely separate from state-run websites. According to Nunes, the website has been running smoothly in comparison to the state website.
“It is so much easier to navigate. It’s just much more efficient and better run,” she said.

Those interested in learning more about the clinics or scheduling an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccination are encouraged to visit   https://www.bigy.com/Pharmacy/covid19-vaccine-faq .

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