Lake County families looking for low-cost immunizations will soon have to travel to Waukegan for shots, instead of going to monthly satellite clinics at five locations in the region.
The monthly satellite clinics are being discontinued in March in order to pool county resources at the Belvidere Medical Building campus, 2400 Belvidere Road in Waukegan, where most people are in the habit of setting appointments for vaccinations, said Lake County Spokeswoman Leslie Piotrowski.
There were 9,700 visits to all of the clinics last year and 28 percent of those visits were to the five satellite clinics, Piotrowski said. The satellite clinics, which are usually open for two hours and require no appointment, are located at Harvest Bible Chapel in Lake Zurich, Condell Hospital Conference Center in Libertyville, VFW Post 4551 in Antioch, Wauconda Township Center and the Lake Forest Hospital Health Education Center.
“The change in the child immunization clinics is to focus on the public benefit rather than geographic location,” Piotrowski said. “Despite monthly clinics at closer satellite locations, 50 percent of the Mundelein clients and 82 percent of the Round Lake area clients are choosing to be served at the Waukegan clinic.”
County officials will extend the hours of the Waukegan clinic when the satellite clinics are discontinued in March.
One problem with the satellite clinics is that health officials there do not have access ss to electronic health records, said Mark Pfister, Population Health Services Director. Parents were required to bring immunization records and if they forgot them or don’t have the records on-hand, health officials have no way of tracking where patients are in their series of vaccinations, Pfister said.
The electronic record system is available at the Waukegan location, Piotrowski said.
Following the December outbreak of pertussis, or whooping cough, getting immunization shots on time is even more important, and the county’s efforts to immunize children against pertussis remains the same, Piotrowski said.
Most of the pertussis cases reported in December occurred in previously immunized people, which indicate people’s immunity has waned, according to a Lake County news release. In tandem, Lake County Health Department officials urged families to ensure that their children get their childhood immunizations on time to avoid contracting pertussis.
Cutting out the satellite clinics will also cut down on travel costs the county pays for nursing staff, Pfister said.
The Waukegan clinic may also be more convenient for families that are enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children program or the Family Case Management program, which are both based in the Belvidere Medical Building campus, Piotrowski said.
For more information, call 847-377-8470 or go to lakecountyil.gov/Health/Pages/PHS.aspx
