photo by: Lauren Fox

Capt. Kelly Battese, CEO of the Haskell Indian Health Center, is pictured outside the building on Feb. 23.

A local health center that serves American Indians and Alaska Natives is further along in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process than Douglas County as a whole, due to the smaller population size the facility is serving.

Haskell Indian Health Center is now serving all American Indians and Alaska Natives who are old enough to qualify to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Capt. Kelly Battese, the CEO of Haskell Indian Health Center, spoke to the Journal-World by phone this week about the center’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts. As of Wednesday, 3,400 doses of vaccine had been distributed at the center, 2415 Massachusetts St. Of those 3,400 doses, 2,022 were first doses and 1,378 were second doses.

Battese said the Haskell Indian Health Center began distributing vaccines on Dec. 17. The center followed guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), first vaccinating health care workers and long-term care facility residents, then people 75 and older and front-line essential workers, and then people 65 and older, people between 16 and 64 years with high-risk medical conditions and other essential workers.

In the last week of January, the Haskell Indian Health Center opened up its vaccine supply to all American Indians and Alaska Natives who qualified. For the Pfizer vaccine, that means people 16 and older, and for the Moderna vaccine, that means people 18 and older.

“We’ve been able to move through those priority groups way quicker than the community around us,” Battese said. Douglas County, following Kansas’ guidelines, is currently in Phase 2 of 5 for vaccine distribution.

photo by: Lauren Fox

The Haskell Indian Health Center, pictured on Feb. 23, 2021, is located at 2415 Massachusetts St.

American Indians and Alaska Natives have been traveling to receive the vaccine in Douglas County.

“Just in general, about half of our patients live in Douglas County and half of our patients live outside of Douglas County,” Battese said. Patients have come from nearby Shawnee and Johnson counties, for example, but also from other states like Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. Battese said the farthest patient came from Ohio.

In order to receive a vaccine through the Haskell Indian Health Center, patients must be a member of a federally recognized tribe, and produce either their tribal enrollment card or Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood.

Battese said he and his team at the Haskell Indian Health Center have been spreading the word about their services by sending letters or postcards to their prior patients and posting on their Facebook page.

“We’ve tried those different mediums to try to reach as many folks as we could with the information. We’ve also done direct phone calls…I don’t think we’ve ever made so many phone calls in the whole history of our facility,” Battese said.

In addition to serving American Indians and Alaska Natives, Battese said that because the pandemic is a global health emergency, “We are able to expand a little bit to take care of folks who normally would not be eligible for services here.” He said they have been able to offer vaccines to people who live in the same household as their employees, as well as non-native employees of Haskell Indian Nations University.

Battese said the center has been fortunate to have a good supply of vaccines. The doses Haskell Indian Health Center receives come through Indian Health Service, not Kansas’ Department of Health and Environment. Indian Health Service is an agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The center does not have a weekly supply of doses that come in, Battese said, but they are in communication with their area office weekly, and that based on demand, the area office coordinates when shipments will come. Haskell Indian Health Center stores its vaccines in an ultra-cold freezer they were able to procure before the vaccines came out as well as an existing freezer space they already had.

On Monday, Battese said that the Haskell Indian Health Center had only wasted one vaccine dose. He said his staff is intent about only drawing up doses that are needed, and work hard to call qualifying individuals when a patient cancels an appointment.

COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minorities, including American Indians and Alaska Natives. In August, the CDC found that in 23 selected states, the cumulative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among American Indians and Alaska Natives was 3.5 times that of non-Hispanic whites, according to a press release.

Battese said it means a lot to him and his staff that they are able to help protect American Indians and Alaska Natives.

“It really means that we are able to protect our people,” Battese said. Starting with the elderly was also meaningful, Battese said, as elders in the native community are important. Battese also mentioned the importance of preserving indigenous people’s cultures and traditions.

“So it’s been really meaningful for us and I think I’ve seen that with our staff here in how personal they take it to ensure that we get our people vaccinated,” Battese said. “Our employees have just stepped up in such a way I can’t even really put in words. They’ve worked tirelessly to get our patients vaccinated and to do it quickly because they realized how important it was to protect our people.”

photo by: Lauren Fox

Haskell Indian Health Center staff are pictured outside their building at 2415 Massachusetts St. on Feb. 23.