FHN Experts: COVID-19 Timeline is Up to You

April 29, 2021 – FHN President and CEO Mark Gridley, MBA, FACHE, reports that FHN's COVID-19 vaccination clinics are running smoothly, but hitting a goal of “opening up” by July 4 is up to members of the community.

“It depends on how well we all stick to the mitigation efforts,” Gridley said. “Please continue to wear your mask, maintain social distance and avoid crowds, and wash or sanitize your hands frequently. If you aren't vaccinated, please consider getting your COVID-19 vaccination.”

FHN COO/CNO Kathryn Martinez, MSN, RN, FACHE, also serves as FHN's incident commander during the COVID-19 pandemic. She's in charge of coordinating FHN's mitigation and vaccination efforts, and says that FHN opened up self scheduling for vaccination appointments for the sake of convenience.

“Self-scheduling is more efficient and lets people sign up for a time that's right for them,” Martinez said. “It's easy to sign up online at fhn.org, and we are urging anyone over the age of 18 to go online and make an appointment.”

The amount of vaccine available still varies day-to-day, but she says that FHN's vaccination clinic site at 1763 S. Dirck Drive in Freeport generally administers at least 120 vaccinations a day, Monday through Friday.

If a day's appointments aren't filled, FHN shares that information and welcomes walk-in appointments with notifications on the organizations' Facebook page (facebook.com/FHNhealth) and with a sign outside the Dirck Drive building.

The latest FHN COVID-19 update video, is available at www.fhn.org/coronavirus.