SPOKANE, Wash. – The COVID-19 vaccine is supposed to be the light at the end of the tunnel, and for the health care workers in Phase 1A, it’s an important tool, but one Spokane health care worker followed the rules, did everything right and was turned away from getting her shot.
Kim Anderson is an independent care provider for the State of Washington, meaning she’s providing daily direct care for patients in their homes.
Getting the vaccine was peace of mind that she needed, knowing she could still go to the grocery store and not bring the virus back to her elderly patients was relief she was looking forward to have.
Last week, Anderson said she called MultiCare after being given a letter from the State of Washington, who she’s employed by, identifying her as someone who could get the shot.
Here is where things got tricky, when she called Multicare they told her they were only vaccinating MultiCare employees.
“I was frustrated because I was told no,” Anderson said. “And I didn’t know where to turn to, to get my vaccine.”
Anderson is one of 46,000 caregivers employed by the State of Washington, performing daily essential care.
Frustrated by the response that she received, she called KHQ and asked if there was anything we could do to help her.
So we went to work and reached out to MultiCare and it turns out there was a problem on their end and Anderson was eligible for her shot.
Eventually, after a few emails she got a phone call.
“[MultiCare] kept apologizing to me, saying ‘I’m sorry that’s not right, that’s not correct it’s not the way we were doing it… that should never have happened, they should have never told you that.’”
MultiCare made direct contact with Anderson regarding this topic, however we’ve reached out to MultiCare several times, via text, phone and email to try to figure out what went wrong in this specific situation, and have not heard back.
But after putting this on the radar, MultiCare did administer the vaccination to Anderson. Anderson said she believes the only reason this was resolved is because she called us.
“The lady called me yesterday at 9 a.m. and said ‘I want to set you up for your COVID shot.’”
Andersons has already scheduled her second dose. She feels relieved she got that shot, but her concern right now is that the other 40,000 caregivers in the Washington who might be dealing with the same issue.
We reached out to the State of Washington and they redirected us to the caregivers union, SEIU.
SEIU has a the list of information on their website for caregivers trying to get the shot. It’s important to know even though we are the next phase– people from previous phases can still get the vaccine.
So if you’re a caregiver and you are struggling, you can follow this link to the SEIU website.
https://seiu775.org/covid-vaccines/
COVID-19 WA Vaccines – SEIU775Available Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Our representatives speak 8 languages, and interpretation services are always available.seiu775.org
The state of Washington also said they are working to get shipments of 50 surgical masks, 5 face shields, and a three-month supply of cloth face coverings for both the IP and the clients they serve.
DSHS has spent around $2 million on this most recent distribution, funded by money from the federal CARES Act, a coronavirus relief program.
IPs have already begun receiving their shipments, and the last should arrive before the end of the month.
