JPS, initially left off Texas COVID vaccine list, will get doses after all, officials say
After John Peter Smith Hospital didn’t appear Friday on a list of Texas hospitals receiving an initial batch of COVID-19 vaccines, officials said on Saturday afternoon the hospital will be able to procure the doses after all.
Roy Charles Brooks, one of two Tarrant County commissioners who oversees JPS, told the Star-Telegram earlier on Saturday the hospital was the only public hospital in the state not on the list for week 1 distributions. Diana Brodeur, a hospital spokesperson, said CEO and President Robert Earley was working with different state agencies to get to the bottom of what was going on.
Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in an email Saturday, “JPS hadn’t completed its enrollment by last week’s deadline for the Week 1 allocation.” He initially said the hospital would begin receiving vaccines in week 2.
In response, JPS said in a statement: “JPS submitted multiple applications to the state for vaccine allotment at multiple locations. Any confusion surrounding JPS applications has been resolved.”
Earley also said in a statement that “because of the cooperation of the state and local hospital leadership, JPS will receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the first round of distribution.”
“I am grateful for the community partners, particularly Cook Children’s Medical Center, which worked so quickly to insure healthcare workers at Tarrant County’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and public health system will have access to the vaccine as they care for patients,” Earley said.
The list, released on Friday by the Texas Department of State Health Services, shows hospitals that will receive some of the 224,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine that could arrive as early as the week of Dec. 14. Every other major hospital in Tarrant County is represented, from Texas Health Harris in Fort Worth — set to receive 5,850 doses — to Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Burleson, which is receiving 975. JPS was noticeably absent earlier on Saturday.
Brooks said he called Earley, who confirmed the hospital wasn’t on the list he got from the office of Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday night. Earley, he said, told him he had spoken with Rep. Stephanie Klick, a member of the House Human Services Committee, and she offered a different explanation than the one offered by DSHS on Saturday.
She told him, Brooks said, that JPS didn’t have the freezers needed to store the vaccine and “he quickly pointed out to her that that was an error.” In the application sent to HHS, the hospital had communicated it had all the necessary freezers and other equipment to store and distribute the vaccine, according to Brooks.
Klick didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail and a text on Saturday.
Abbott’s office also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sen. Beverly Powell said in a statement on Saturday she learned late on Friday night she got a call that JPS was absent from the list and worked with officials on Saturday to reach a resolution.
“I am thankful that community healthcare providers were able to work together to ensure local healthcare professionals receive access to the vaccine so they can continue serving Tarrant County residents,” she said.
Brooks said over the phone on Saturday it was “unconscionable” that a hospital serving a vulnerable population hit hard by COVID wouldn’t receive vaccines and it raised red flags. This came after Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley has publicly called on Abbott to let county judges have more control over COVID restrictions.
Brooks said he hopes it wasn’t political.
“That would just compound the injury,” he said. “People’s health should not rest upon who’s pissed off at whom, politically.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 1:23 PM.