12th January 2021 Delighted that the New Year has seen her become the first staff member in Sligo University Hospital to receive the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine last week Staff Midwife, Mary Meade says along with her colleagues they have “seen the devastating effect of this infection on our patients and their families.” Receiving the vaccine from nursing colleague Catherine Greaney, Mary said she was “delighted to get this vaccine that will offer protection from COVID 19 and from the serious complications it can cause.”
“I have worked in Sligo for over 20 years and am currently the Staff Midwife working in the Maternity Ward. We have been treating suspect and confirmed COVID 19 patients since the onset of the pandemic. There is no doubt 2020 was a really difficult year for everyone working in the health service.”
Looking forward to 2021, Mary added: “As we begin the New Year, it is really positive to see the start of the COVID 19 vaccination campaign.”
Roll-out programme By the end of last week over 500 staff members were vaccinated at Sligo University Hospital and the roll out programme continues this week.
Grainne McCann Hospital Manager at Sligo University Hospital added that while their plan on the first day of the programme was to provide the vaccine to staff on Red Zone areas/wards, “over the coming days and weeks we will be rolling out the vaccine to our staff and across the entire hospital. After a really challenging year we are delighted that the vaccination programme has begun here.”
Peer Vaccination Team Marion Ryder, Director of Nursing at Sligo University Hospital whose team is delivering the COVID-19 vaccine campaign across the hospital thanked their peer vaccination team in SUH “for their commitment to rolling out this essential vaccine. While the vaccine is not mandatory, it is recommended that everyone gets the vaccine when it is offered to them. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine should protect from the serious complications of COVID-19 and reduce the illness and deaths caused by this virus”.
For factual, expert information you can trust, visit: hse.ie/covid19vaccine
TUH launch series of health talks
Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) will be hosting a number of health-related talks during October as part of Health Awareness Month. The first talk in the series will look at ‘how to eat well and exercise during the menopause’.
‘Living Well with Dementia’ project marks 10 years
The Living Well with Dementia in South Tipperary project, supported by the HSE and run in cooperation with Family Carers Ireland, recently marked 10 years of service.