Getting creative to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations
By Karla Brooks, Bellin Health
Amazon has reportedly instituted a ‘Max Your Vax,’ $500,000 lottery giving frontline workers a chance to win cash and prizes. In Tel Aviv, an Israeli bar doubled as a COVID-19 vaccination clinic with free drinks given to patrons who get shots. And, a marijuana grower in California promised a summer party to its crew when they hit 90% vaccinated. The answer to whether an individual has had a vaccination may be dependent on where in the world they live. Of course, anyone who has visited the frozen tundra knows that things are done a bit differently in Northeast Wisconsin and Upper Peninsula Michigan as well.
FREE MEAT FOR A YEAR. MEANINGFUL INCENTIVES.
Bellin Business & Community Health meat packing facility partners, JBS Foods Group and American Foods Group each offered their employees a $100 incentive to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. While roughly 49% of the U.S. population has been vaccinated, 70% of the JBS USA workforce has been vaccinated. Cold, hard, cash continues to be a motivator. As a community partner, JBS joined with Bellin Health to offer a vaccination clinic at a local farmer’s market. People over 21 getting vaccinated each received a half ribeye and a backpack filled with school supplies. Those meat lovers who rolled up their sleeves for something other than dinner also received a chance to win a year’s worth of free beef, pork, and chicken for a family of four.
SHOTS WITH A COWGIRL. MAKE IT FUN.
Bellin Health Employer Clinics care team members provide primary care, nursing, and physical and occupational therapy at over 75 employer locations across the region. Kristin Coleman, RN, BSN, is an onsite nurse coach at Multi-Color Corporation, a printing and flexible packing manufacturing company in Algoma, Wisconsin. As part of her shift and during a team-building ‘Employer Clinic Cribs’ virtual segment, Kristin dressed as a cowgirl, doing plant walk-throughs while offering to sit down and ‘do shots’ with employees. The Employer Clinic team along with Account Executives worked with each employer group to bring vaccines onsite to employees, making it convenient for people, and keeping them at work. Companies like Belmark, Inc., a manufacturer of pressure-sensitive labels, flexible packaging, and folding cartons based in De Pere, Wisconsin, offered employees paid time off and a $100 incentive for receiving the vaccine.
ROOM WITH A VIEW. COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.
The quarterback of the local Green Bay team isn’t the only one with a strong arm. Bellin Health, Green Bay Packers, and Brown County Public Health teamed up in a large-scale effort to vaccinate community members. Since December 2020, Bellin Health has vaccinated 100,000 people and counting. Lambeau Field provided a centralized, well-known, and accessible location for a community vaccination site to service Brown County, Wisconsin, and the surrounding area. The stadium’s flexible event spaces were adjusted as needed to accommodate vaccine distribution. As vaccination volumes declined, the clinic moved from the atrium and took up residence in the Terrace Suites.
The new location allowed individuals to receive their vaccine with a view, overlooking Lambeau Field and the seating bowl. Individuals also received a special co-branded, Green Bay Packers, Bellin Health face mask. In an effort to promote vaccine equity, the local health systems along with Brown County Public Health and Green Bay Metro Public Transportation transformed a city bus into a mobile vaccination clinic. Employers and community-based organizations are encouraged to host a mobile vaccine clinic. Meanwhile, in the U.P Michigan, clinics got creative by using the drive-thru flu concept and currently offer a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic. Football fans attending a recent Family Night event at Lambeau Field had the opportunity to tailgate and get their shot; multitasking at its finest. To learn more about the mobile unit, go to www.stayhealthybc.com.
GET JABBED, OR GET A NEW JOB. OUCH!
Education is a key to counteract misinformation. Throughout the pandemic, employers received updates through weekly Employer Town Hall calls with messages from Bellin Health President and CEO, Chris Woleske, medical experts, and employer guests. Operational updates were also provided and participants had opportunities to receive answers to their questions. With the Delta variant causing havoc, the team surveyed employers to hear their questions and learn how they prefer to receive communications.
One big question and concern centers on mandating vaccines. While it seems employers have the legal right to require vaccinations to remain employed, with exclusions for the medically compromised and religious objectors, mandates are controversial and could reduce employee morale and cause tension, or even prompt some people to quit. Many employers are approaching employee vaccinations as an incentive rather than a mandate.
Bellin Health System is strongly encouraging its’ 5,000+ employees to get vaccinated with enhanced testing protocols for non-vaccinated team members and an insurance premium incentive for vaccinated employees. The other big question is, “When will this end?” While we’re not privy to that answer, we do know when we LISTEN to our people, community, and customers, CO-DESIGN solutions with them, and DELIVER results we all move forward. The team is how we get things done in Titletown.
