1
00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:04,671
Sheets of rain fell on central
Pennsylvania early one morning in October,

2
00:00:04,671 --> 00:00:08,274
but Mei Nguyen headed out for her parents’
annual flu shot anyway.

3
00:00:08,608 --> 00:00:11,778
Her mother and father are retired,
and they’ve reached the age

4
00:00:11,778 --> 00:00:14,781
where the flu is more likely
to turn into something serious.

5
00:00:15,115 --> 00:00:19,519
But rather than visit a nearby doctor’s
office, Nguyen opted to take a 30-minute

6
00:00:19,519 --> 00:00:24,324
drive from her home in Palmyra to a
parking lot outside Lebanon High School

7
00:00:24,391 --> 00:00:28,461
to join the line of cars at Penn State
Health’s annual drive-through clinic.

8
00:00:28,862 --> 00:00:31,231
“I’ve been doing this for years,”
she said.

9
00:00:31,231 --> 00:00:33,199
“It’s just very convenient.”

10
00:00:33,199 --> 00:00:37,037
For Nguyen, this step to protect her
parents’ health is fast and easy.

11
00:00:37,303 --> 00:00:40,740
For the community health
nurses and volunteers who make it happen,

12
00:00:41,007 --> 00:00:44,544
each stop in the drive-through
route is the culmination of months

13
00:00:44,544 --> 00:00:46,713
of planning and years of fine-tuning.

14
00:00:46,713 --> 00:00:49,249
It’s worth it, organizers said.

15
00:00:49,249 --> 00:00:54,154
This year, the clinic helped
protect 583 people from possibly catching

16
00:00:54,154 --> 00:00:58,158
and spreading a virus
that killed 41,900 people

17
00:00:58,158 --> 00:01:02,629
in 2022 and sickened millions more,
according to data from the U.S.

18
00:01:02,629 --> 00:01:05,131
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.

19
00:01:05,131 --> 00:01:08,501
Free flu shots are a crucial part
of the overall community

20
00:01:08,501 --> 00:01:11,504
health picture
in Lebanon County and everywhere else.

21
00:01:11,638 --> 00:01:15,875
A 2021 Penn State Health survey of six
central Pennsylvania counties

22
00:01:16,076 --> 00:01:20,547
identified wellness and disease prevention
as a key area of need.

23
00:01:20,814 --> 00:01:25,118
Dietary issues, such as lack of access
to healthy foods, and failure

24
00:01:25,118 --> 00:01:29,222
to screen for serious illnesses
are also problems for many in the region.

25
00:01:29,522 --> 00:01:33,860
A flu outbreak can be devastating
to already struggling populations.

26
00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:37,764
That’s why Penn State Health has invested
so much time and effort

27
00:01:37,764 --> 00:01:39,666
in getting its drive-through right.

28
00:01:39,666 --> 00:01:43,436
And every year,
the organizers learn a little more.

29
00:01:44,370 --> 00:01:46,906
First stop: Pick a lane.

30
00:01:46,906 --> 00:01:51,144
When you first arrive, Scott Mickalonis,
director of emergency management

31
00:01:51,144 --> 00:01:54,781
and business continuity for Penn State
Health, is directing traffic.

32
00:01:55,014 --> 00:01:57,450
Droplets bead off of his rain gear.

33
00:01:57,450 --> 00:02:00,019
Mickalonis has seen the drive-through
evolve.

34
00:02:00,019 --> 00:02:04,290
It began in 2015 as an idea
and a handful of cars

35
00:02:04,290 --> 00:02:06,693
in a parking lot on Penn State
Health Milton S.

36
00:02:06,693 --> 00:02:10,530
Hershey Medical Center’s
campus to the hundreds he’ll help today.

37
00:02:11,131 --> 00:02:14,567
“One of the things we were planning for
was how to take care of mass

38
00:02:14,567 --> 00:02:16,202
numbers of people,” he said.

39
00:02:16,202 --> 00:02:20,073
“Having them park a car,
get out and walk in – it’s not efficient.

40
00:02:20,340 --> 00:02:24,811
This kind of setup allows for better
throughput.” About 12 hours earlier,

41
00:02:24,811 --> 00:02:26,079
when a Penn State Health team

42
00:02:26,079 --> 00:02:29,883
arrived to set up, the sky didn’t
hold even a rumor of rain.

43
00:02:30,150 --> 00:02:32,919
But the forecast made them shift gears.

44
00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:35,622
As the sky opened up, 60 volunteers

45
00:02:35,622 --> 00:02:39,325
keep dry inside
six tents big enough for cars drive under.

46
00:02:39,559 --> 00:02:43,496
It’s the same model they used during
the height of COVID for swab testing.

47
00:02:43,930 --> 00:02:47,467
“Things we’ve learned
from other experiences help us to pivot,”

48
00:02:47,467 --> 00:02:50,670
said Ashley Visco, Penn State
Health’s community health director,

49
00:02:50,803 --> 00:02:54,374
who has helped oversee
the last five flu shot drive-throughs.

50
00:02:55,275 --> 00:02:58,278
Stop 2: Fill out your form.

51
00:02:58,444 --> 00:03:02,215
Mickolanis and a few others
share a smile and a laugh with you,

52
00:03:02,248 --> 00:03:04,384
and then route your car
to one of the lanes

53
00:03:04,384 --> 00:03:08,421
organizers have created with signs on
metal stands and traffic cones.

54
00:03:08,721 --> 00:03:11,724
The left lane is for larger
SUVs and trucks.

55
00:03:11,858 --> 00:03:15,628
The right ― where he routes Nguyen
and her parents ― is for smaller cars.

56
00:03:16,062 --> 00:03:19,532
The center lane is for people
who speak languages other than English.

57
00:03:19,632 --> 00:03:22,769
Several volunteers
speak Spanish and help interpret.

58
00:03:23,102 --> 00:03:23,903
At Stop No.

59
00:03:23,903 --> 00:03:28,408
2, they wield stacks of consent forms
translated into multiple languages.

60
00:03:29,008 --> 00:03:32,312
Drivers fill out the forms on freshly
washed clipboards.

61
00:03:32,445 --> 00:03:35,648
Several volunteers
spend at least a portion of the day

62
00:03:35,648 --> 00:03:38,918
wiping down the boards
with cleaning solution ― an innovation

63
00:03:38,918 --> 00:03:41,921
from the busiest drive-through
clinic in 2020.

64
00:03:41,921 --> 00:03:47,093
On that day, more than 1,000 people came
for flu shots, when sensitivity

65
00:03:47,093 --> 00:03:51,130
about the spread of illnesses, always
a paramount concern, was heightened.

66
00:03:52,165 --> 00:03:55,101
Stop 3: Any questions?

67
00:03:55,101 --> 00:03:58,972
At your third stop, volunteers
answer questions about the vaccine,

68
00:03:58,972 --> 00:04:02,041
your paperwork or what’s
about to happen in the next tent.

69
00:04:02,275 --> 00:04:05,545
Runners collect the forms
and take them for checking and filing

70
00:04:05,545 --> 00:04:08,548
away at the mobile command center,
which is parked nearby.

71
00:04:08,748 --> 00:04:12,185
From the outside, it looks like
the rear end of a tractor trailer,

72
00:04:12,285 --> 00:04:16,322
53-feet long and wrapped
with images of the Penn State Nittany Lion

73
00:04:16,322 --> 00:04:21,628
and the words “LionReach.” Inside
is what looks like a doctor’s office,

74
00:04:21,628 --> 00:04:25,331
white cabinetry, antiseptic-colored
surfaces and fluorescent lights.

75
00:04:25,698 --> 00:04:28,668
The command center is a loaner
from Hershey Medical Center’s

76
00:04:28,668 --> 00:04:30,103
Emergency Department.

77
00:04:30,103 --> 00:04:33,172
On Friday afternoon,
as the crew rifled through papers

78
00:04:33,172 --> 00:04:36,442
and managed a million tiny details
to pull off their event,

79
00:04:36,676 --> 00:04:40,580
the generator that powers
the lights and outlets wheezed to a halt.

80
00:04:41,114 --> 00:04:43,449
Another curve in the road.

81
00:04:43,449 --> 00:04:46,452
Since the drive-through’s inception,
everyone has gotten

82
00:04:46,452 --> 00:04:49,455
used to taking each unexpected
turn as it comes.

83
00:04:49,622 --> 00:04:52,292
How do you help
people who don’t speak the language?

84
00:04:52,292 --> 00:04:56,262
What’s the most efficient way to move
each car from paperwork to needles,

85
00:04:56,262 --> 00:05:00,199
keeping everything properly sterile,
when your hospital is miles away?

86
00:05:00,533 --> 00:05:01,868
What if it rains?

87
00:05:01,868 --> 00:05:03,903
What if you run out of vaccine?

88
00:05:03,903 --> 00:05:07,206
And now,
what do you do when the power goes out?

89
00:05:07,807 --> 00:05:12,011
Heather Hostetter, a community health care
administrative associate, and community

90
00:05:12,011 --> 00:05:15,915
health nurses Tara Simmons and Julie
Groh searched for an answer.

91
00:05:16,149 --> 00:05:18,985
Hostetter called someone
at the Emergency Department.

92
00:05:18,985 --> 00:05:21,988
They tracked down a step ladder,
and Hostetter scaled it,

93
00:05:22,021 --> 00:05:25,391
digging into the wires
under a bulkhead behind the trailer.

94
00:05:25,625 --> 00:05:28,861
In a few minutes,
the generator roared to life again.

95
00:05:29,262 --> 00:05:32,865
Sometimes, managing a curve requires
a change of hats –

96
00:05:33,066 --> 00:05:36,803
in this case from administrative associate
or nurse to mechanic.

97
00:05:37,370 --> 00:05:40,640
Volunteers come from the community
and throughout the health system.

98
00:05:40,740 --> 00:05:44,577
They come from the departments
of Nursing, Emergency and Pharmacy.

99
00:05:44,844 --> 00:05:47,547
A local tent rental provides the tents.

100
00:05:47,547 --> 00:05:51,250
Penn State Health partners with the
Lebanon School District and local police.

101
00:05:51,451 --> 00:05:54,454
Students from Penn State
College of Medicine pitch in.

102
00:05:54,487 --> 00:05:57,990
Highmark Foundation and Highmark Blue
Cross Blue Shield funds it.

103
00:05:58,391 --> 00:06:00,960
The Pennsylvania Department of Health
plays a role.

104
00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,530
Each clinic has tendrils
leading in countless directions.

105
00:06:05,365 --> 00:06:08,368
Stop 4: Go time.

106
00:06:08,368 --> 00:06:10,770
The reason why you’ve come has arrived.

107
00:06:10,770 --> 00:06:11,871
The big dance.

108
00:06:11,871 --> 00:06:14,540
A nurse gives you your shot.

109
00:06:14,540 --> 00:06:17,910
Early that morning, Frank Herrmann,
clinical pharmacy coordinator

110
00:06:17,910 --> 00:06:19,345
at Hershey Medical Center,

111
00:06:19,345 --> 00:06:23,816
opened a freezer at the hospital,
took out 700 doses of the flu vaccine ―

112
00:06:23,950 --> 00:06:27,120
more than enough for the 400
who have signed up for the drive-through ―

113
00:06:27,286 --> 00:06:30,289
and put them into a foam cooler
with ice bags.

114
00:06:30,356 --> 00:06:33,926
round the country
everyone receives the same vaccine.

115
00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,331
“Each year the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention makes their best guess

116
00:06:38,331 --> 00:06:42,135
as to what flu strain is going to be
prevalent this season,” Herrmann said.

117
00:06:42,402 --> 00:06:46,072
“So, they put this menu together
of what they think is going to work.”

118
00:06:46,906 --> 00:06:50,009
In the drive-through, Herrmann and others
from the Pharmacy Department

119
00:06:50,009 --> 00:06:53,112
make sure each station is stocked
with enough vaccine.

120
00:06:53,513 --> 00:06:56,315
On the off chance that they run out,
more is available

121
00:06:56,315 --> 00:06:59,852
at the Medical Center,
which is about 25 minutes away by car.

122
00:07:00,353 --> 00:07:04,357
As rain roared on the tent, Penn State
Health nurses leaned into Nguyen’s

123
00:07:04,357 --> 00:07:09,429
car and injected her and her mother
and father with the 2023 flu vaccine.

124
00:07:09,862 --> 00:07:14,033
Despite the downpour and the growing
crowd, it took Nguyen about five minutes

125
00:07:14,033 --> 00:07:18,538
to pull in, fill out a couple of forms,
receive the shots and drive out.

126
00:07:18,871 --> 00:07:19,705
Simple.

127
00:07:19,705 --> 00:07:20,973
No waiting rooms.

128
00:07:20,973 --> 00:07:23,676
And she didn’t
even have to get out of the car.