View & Download Photos from the 2023 Awards Ceremony

2023 Spot Shot Award Winners

Pastor Hector & Cecilia Ramirez and Sister Cabrini Thomas

Sr. Cabrini is a religious sister, and the principal of St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School in Maryvale and Hector Ramirez is a founding member of El Buen Pastor church in Mesa, AZ. Both of these individuals have led religiously affiliated groups which use their facilities and community reach to partner with Maricopa County Department of Public Health and host vaccine clinics.

Sr. Cabrini opened the doors of her school so the Maryvale community could have a trusted site to get vaccinated. Maricopa County Public Health started providing vaccines at St. Vincent de Paul in 2021. The site continues to provide not only the COVID-19 vaccine but also other adult vaccines. The consistency offered by St. Vincent de Paul has made it one of the most successful sites to receive vaccines for those without a medical home. El Buen Pastor Church also has a program which now provides weekly vaccine clinics to those in need. The Ramirez pastors not only open the doors of the clinic to the surrounding community, but also serve asylum seekers in partnership with Immigration and Customs Services. Their clinic offers COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines for children and adults like Flu, Tdap, Hepatitis, and Shingles—allowing the clinic to serve all ages.

2023 Up Shot Award Winners

LCDR Laura McCluney and Four Corners Regional Health Center

Laura McCluney is a team leader at Four Corners Regional Health Center. FCRHC is an Indian Health Service facility located in Arizona on the Navajo Nation Reservation. The center serves a user population of around 15,000 patients and is a trusted part of the community. As of February 2023, over 7,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Arizona Navajo patients of all ages thanks to the efforts of Laura and FCRHC. The high state-wide vaccination rate among Native Americans did not just happen. Success largely reflects community leadership implementing vaccine prioritization and distribution strategies that reflect the unique logistical challenges. Laura’s team at FCRHC used innovative strategies to carry out 19 mass-immunization events over 4 months. These events resulted in 2,740 people being immunized against COVID-19. FCRHC also held five pediatric COVID-19 vaccination events over 3 months and vaccinated over 300 pediatric patients.

Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center Community Wellness Program

Dignity Health’s Chandler Regional Medical Centers Community Wellness program has been providing no-cost immunizations to children in the East Valley for the past 20 years. Within their 22 hour per month clinic schedule, they provided over 62,045 poor or underserved children with 188,767 vaccines! The program reached children in clinic settings and outpatient treatment centers. In addition to their work vaccinating children, Community Wellness became a VFA provider in 2015. In that capacity they provided an additional 4,288 vaccines for 3,284 adult patients.

2023 Long Shot Award Winners

Kelsey Andrews

Kelsey Andrews is an Emergency Preparedness Planner with Maricopa County Department of Public Health. In the early months of the COVID pandemic, Kelsey recognized that the majority of Long-Term Care Facilities, Adult Group Homes, and partners serving homebound populations did not have access to vaccines or to a mobile healthcare provider who could administer vaccines to them. Kelsey created a network of mobile healthcare partners and connected each facility or person with someone who would come directly to them and deliver their immunizations. Her efforts lead to a rapid decline in both COVID and flu cases in adult long term congregate settings. 157 facilities were served with over 2,900 vaccines given. In the 2022-2023 season, Kelsey ensured 1,588 COVID vaccines and 1,845 influenza vaccines made it into the arms of those living in vulnerable care settings. She has focused on helping each facility create an independent partnership with a mobile health care provider to provide ongoing immunizations and have stronger, more resilient immunization plans.

MCDPH STRIKE Team

A key component to alleviating the vaccine disparity issue within Maricopa County during the height of COVID was originally a temporary solution for vaccinating Long-Term Care facilities. That temporary solution became a fixture within Public Health called the MCDPH STRIKE Team. Since the team formed, they have continuously worked within the community providing a safe and comfortable environment for individuals to get vaccinated. Between January 2021-March 3rd, 2023, the Strike Team has administered 50,598 vaccines at 1,451 events/clinics. The team works hard to break through barriers and provide necessary vaccines within hard-to-reach communities. In 2022, the Strike Team took over handling childhood vaccine events, primarily at Title 1 schools. By providing free vaccines a child needs in order to go to school, it elevates some of the burden of the parents and schools. The Strike Team has completed 27 childhood events administering 3,759 childhood vaccines, 987 COVID-19 vaccines, and 355 Flu shots. The team has become well-known and respected in many communities due to their continued presence. Individuals who were previously hesitant now bring their family members and friends to these events. The team created an all-inclusive environment for everyone to receive access to free vaccines. They have been pivotal in building bridges between Public Health and Maricopa County’s diverse population!

2023 Top Shot Award Winners

Valleywise Health Comprehensive Health Center—Phoenix and Peoria Dialysis

Valleywise Health is proud to serve and be part of a truly diverse community. They not only have excellent rates for childhood vaccination, but also for adults. At Valleywise Health Comprehensive Health Centers Peoria and Phoenix Dialysis, 95% of their population is Hispanic/Latino underinsured or uninsured. The hesitancy of patients to get the COVID vaccine was astronomical in the beginning of the vaccine availability. As a unit, they worked hard to create strategies, education, and personalized information to achieve an incredible 100% of all our dialysis patients vaccinated against COVID. Both Peoria and Phoenix Dialysis units have shown exemplary and continual work to improve patient’s vaccination rates achieving nearly 100% vaccination coverage for Flu, COVID-19, Pneumonia and Hepatitis B for patients and staff.

2023 Buck Shot Award Winners

Mesa Fire Department

Mesa Fire Department, through their Mesa Fire Medical Department immunization program, has been a trusted community partner for those they serve for many years. In 2022, they administered a grand total of 4,576 vaccines in addition to their other responsibilities serving the public. Mesa Fire administered 547 VFC shots – this includes a monthly clinic, 11-yr old shots for Mesa Public School students, and Shots given at Sunshine Acres. They also gave 3,646 Flu shots, 263 COVID shots, and shots for new hires at Mesa Fire.

DocGO

DocGo (Also known as Rapid Reliable Testing and Ambulnz) has been a valued contract vaccine vendor with Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) since 2021, assisting in several specialty programs outside pop-up events including Long-Term Care, Homebound, and Mpox. DocGo has been instrumental in giving thousands of vaccines to long-term care residents, assisted 164 homebound individuals who did not have other options to receive their COVID-19 vaccine, and hundreds of Mpox vaccines. DocGo has held 267 events/clinics and administered 4,473 vaccines on behalf of MCDPH. They have been a reliable partner that continues to provide all the necessary documents and reports asked of them. Having a partner like DocGo allows MCDPH to build more relationships within the community and breakdown barriers towards immunization equity!

Roy Rogers

As the pandemic continued to strain healthcare systems, we saw one of the largest declines in vaccination rates. In the attempt to catch up children and decrease delays in completion of vaccine series, Roy Rogers and Phoenix Fire Baby Shots Program partnered with Maricopa County Department of Public Health to provide immunization services at school-based events. Roy Rogers was instrumental in partnering with MCDPH in the planning and operational phases of the school-based outreach programs. Per Roy’s typical response, “What can I do to help?”, he allowed us the additional staffing to immunize children heading back into the school year and help catch up children who had fallen behind on their immunizations. The outreach programs were extremely successful, and 5,000 children and families were able to receive direct immunization services in their local schools. MCDPH and TAPI thank him for his partnership and dedication to keeping children and families in our communities safe from vaccine preventable diseases!

2023 Hot Shot Award Winners

Samuel Crow BSN, RN

Samuel Crow is the Nurse Supervisor COVID Vaccine Coordinator from the Office of Community Wellness and Health Promotion at MCDPH. Samuel’s team at the Maricopa County Health Department graciously offered to help immunize members of the STAR team and the community at the annual Fall STAR Health fair. Many of those who benefitted from this fair had comorbidities and other health challenges, but they were open to learning about which vaccinations were appropriate for them and simply needed access to affordable vaccines to get up to date. Samuel’s group of highly skilled professionals dedicated countless hours and manpower promoting and successfully providing individualized care and education. They immunized 240 participants at the health fair!

Misty Croy, RMA

Misty is a dedicated registered medical assistant who has worked at Banner University Children’s Multispecialty Clinic for over 9 years. Beginning in October of 2021, Misty was chosen to lead the start of the clinic’s Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic. Her organizational skills, exceptional efforts, and tireless work has without a doubt helped improve the health and wellness of the clinic’s patients. Their clinic is now 90% immunized! Misty has also improved the less glamorous but very important organizational side of the clinic’s vaccines. Under her leadership, Banner University Multispecialty has maintained 98-100% accuracy rate with vaccines documentation and an overall percentage of 0.4 vaccine wastage.

Adelina Lopez

During Adelina Lopez’ time at United Community Health Care, she has always gone above and beyond for the patients and providers she works with. When a patient/parent walked into the clinic requesting a vaccine, Adelina never missed the opportunity to vaccinate the patient when appropriate. She is incredibly determined and truly shows compassion as a nurse. She is always willing to lend a hand and help where needed without hesitation. Adelina moved from her role as our LPN lead to Immunization Coordinator. Although her patients miss her greatly, she has been an overachiever in her new role. She updates data regularly and works hard to maintain all the pediatric immunization inventory. She manages hundreds of vaccines and does an extremely excellent job at it. She is a great teacher who loves to educate everyone about the importance of vaccines. Her tireless efforts have made a profound impact on our organization and our patients. Everyone needs an Adelina in their workplace!

2023 Hot Shot Andie Denious Award Winners

Jessie Barbosa

Jessie serves as the vaccine equity coordinator at the Arizona Department of Health Services. As part of her role, Jessie partners with vaccine providers, county health workers, community organizations, and many other members of the community and takes the time to help others make meaningful connections inside and outside of ADHS. This program has resulted in over 140,000 COVID-19 vaccines statewide, including in some of the hardest to reach communities. Jessie pioneered the Mpox vaccine project with over fifteen community events across the state and championed a statewide vaccine campaign to increase bivalent COVID booster uptake for those in long term care facilities. She listens to the community to learn where the gaps are, and she navigates the system to help fill those gaps.

Maria Rubio

Maria Rubio has dedicated her life to Mountain Park Health Center, giving more than 30 years to MPHC and her community by truly living their guiding principles of service over self and making time for human connection. Maria has helped build MPHC’s Immunization Program from the ground up, starting with one small clinic on Baseline, to helping expand to ten different clinics throughout the valley, ensuring that all clinics are set up, trained and able to provide safe vaccines to the community. She can be credited with improving the lives of thousands by ensuring the COVID vaccine was readily available to across Maricopa County. Maria continues to be a leader for the Immunization Program at Mountain Park Health Center as the Immunization Program Supervisor.

Patty Gast, MPH

Patty Gast has dedicated her career to the health and wellness of both people and animals. She has directed infectious disease epidemiology, Tuberculosis Control, Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Infectious Disease Surveillance, Investigations and Preparedness, the ADHS Immunization program and TAPI’s public health billing program.

Patty led the immunization program through the H1N1 Flu outbreak and several CDC funding cuts that would have been detrimental to the immunization safety net services. Her willingness to partner with local health departments, pediatricians and TAPI led to the success of the CDC billables grant that allowed public health in AZ to bill for insured kids in clinics rather than having to turn them away. Through Patty’s continued leadership, TAPI has billed for childhood and adult vaccines in 11 counties and helped them and their partners respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Patty’s work has ensured that Arizonans have access to life saving vaccines regardless of insurance status by establishing a steady sustainable funding source for nurses and purchasing vaccine.

2023 Hot Shot Innovation Carol Joyce Award Winners

Dr. Bessie Burk, DNP, FNP-BC

Dr. Bessie Burk is Director of Medical Services at SunLife Family Health Center, Casa Grande, AZ. Among her many responsibilities, she organizes and implements the agency pandemic response, including community vaccinations and COVID testing. The SunLife system is open to all in the SunLife service area which includes parts of Pinal and Maricopa Counties. Twenty-five percent of the clients served by SunLife are uninsured or on a federal sliding fee program. On invitation from Congressman Tom O’Halloran, Dr. Burk also participates with the state health department and local work groups developing responses to the pandemic. This position provides her with a forum which she has used to promote investment in vaccines and immunization in our state. Partner organizations have grown to trust Dr. Burk and value her agency’s recommendations and the safe environment established for them and their clients.

Alissha McNeese, LPN

Alissha McNeese is a Vaccine Equity Nurse Health Navigator at Cochise County Health & Social Services. They have done excellent health equity and COVID-19 vaccine equity work in many underserved and vulnerable populations in Cochise County. Alissha’s team has implemented a community-based approach centered on community-based vaccine education, dispelling misinformation and disinformation, and mobile vaccine administration with hard-to-reach populations. Outreach programs have included a community-based initiative collaborating with Cochise Harm Reduction to serve community members who may be experiencing homelessness and/or substance abuse disorders, holding mobile clinics in areas hesitant populations frequent, and contacting nursing homes and residential treatment facilities where COVID-19 vaccination rates were low.

2023 Flash Shot Award Winners

MCDPH CARES Team

The CARES Team is a unit within the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. The CARES Team was initially created during the COVID response to provide a single source of information to community members. With that foundation in place during 2022, the CARES Team was uniquely prepared to step in and assist with the county’s Mpox (Monkeypox) response. From July 2022 through December 2022, the CARES team made 8,940 Mpox vaccine appointments, received 9,614 inbound Mpox-related calls, and had 23,055 outbound community interactions to promote nearby vaccination events. This team has speakers of a variety of languages as well as other language and translation resources to help get information into the community that may struggle to understand English-language materials.

Southwest Center

Maricopa County Department of Public Health was honored to partner with the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS for the Mpox response during the months of August – November 2022. In addition to accepting vaccine and vaccinating their own patient population, SW Center was willing and eager to share their knowledge of the high-risk population that was affected by Mpox. They helped develop communication strategies to educate and inform the community on vaccination operations. They provided space and staffing to support county vaccination efforts. SW Center has established their organization as a trusted source of health information for the community they serve. The Southwest Center is committed to providing high-quality, affordable, affirming, and inclusive services to all – especially people of color, LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, and those affected by HIV. The county’s vaccination response to the Mpox outbreak would not have been nearly as successful without SW Center’s collaboration.

Valleywise Community Health Center—McDowell

Administering vaccines can be a challenging process at the best of times but responding to two public health crises plus normal seasonal vaccine deserves to be recognized. The Valleywise Health—McDowell Community Health Clinic did just that this past year as they continued to promote health and safety through providing COVID-19 initial and booster vaccines, promoting and providing seasonal influenza vaccines, and partnering with Maricopa County to be one of the clinics that was working to quell the impact of Mpox by vaccinating those at risk and by providing treatment to individuals with severe Mpox illness. As the Valleywise Health—McDowell Community Health Clinic is the largest provider of primary HIV care services in Arizona, the vulnerability for individuals who receive care there for both severe Mpox and severe COVID was magnified. Consequently, the clinic, through strategic partnerships with Maricopa County Health Department and the Arizona Department of Health Services, answered the call to be a leader in providing these needed vaccines to help the community in supporting their own health and reducing incidents of infection for these serious illnesses.

2023 First Time Toddler Cloud Award

Banner Health Center Maricopa

Banner University Medical Group Rita Ranch Primary Care

Mountain Park Educare Balz Clinic

San Luis Walk-In, Clinic. Inc.

Valleywise Health – Guadalupe Community Health Center

Yuma Regional Medical Center Pediatrics

2023 Repeat Toddler Cloud Award

Adelante Healthcare – West Phoenix

Adelante Healthcare Buckeye

Adelante Healthcare Mesa

Adelante Healthcare Peoria

Adelante Healthcare Wickenburg

Adelante Healthcare Goodyear

Arizona Pediatric Clinics

AZKidsDoc Pediatrics

Banner Children’s Banner Health Clinic – Casa Grande

Banner University Medical Group Cholla Pediatrics

BUMT North Hills Pediatrics

Banner Wilmot Multi Specialty – Gen Peds

Children’s Oasis Pediatrics

Desert Shores Pediatrics – Gilbert

Desert Shores Pediatrics – Chandler

Desert Willow Pediatrics

El Rio/El Pueblo Community Health Center

El Rio Southwest Peds Clinic

Evernorth Care Paseo Clinic

Evernorth Care Group South Mountain

Evernorth Care Group – Westridge Pediatrics

Evernorth Care Group Chandler

Joshua Tree Pediatrics

La Paz County Health Department

Mountain Park Atkinson Clinic

Mountain Park Baseline Clinic

Mountain Park Christown Clinic

Mountain Park Gateway Clinic

Mountain Park Goodyear Clinic

Mountain Park Maryvale Clinic

Mountain Park Tempe Clinic

MVP Kids Care – Avondale

North Country HealthCare – Winslow

Paloma Pediatrics

Pediatric MultiCare West

Pinal County Public Health – Casa Grande

Pinal County Public Health – San Tan Valley

Primary Care and Pediatrics

Providence Pediatrics

Southeast El Rio

Sun Life Center for Children

Sunset Health North Yuma

Tuscany Children Clinic Yuma, AZ

UCHC Old Vail Middle School

United Community Health Center La Canada Pediatrics

Valleywise Community Health Center – West Maryvale

Yuma Sunset Health Center Pediatrics

2023 Catch-Up Toddler Cloud Award

Hopi Health Care Center

Panda Pediatrics and Adolescent Care

2023 Honorable Mention Toddler Cloud Award

Adelante Healthcare Central Phoenix

2023 First Time Teen Cloud Award

Banner University Medical Group Cholla Pediatrics

BUMT North Hills Pediatrics

Mountain Park Atkinson Clinic

Mountain Park Christown Clinic

Mountain Park Educare Balz Clinic

My Pediatric Place

Panda Pediatrics and Adolescent Care

San Luis Walk-In, Clinic. Inc.

Sun Life Health – Casa Grande

Sun Life Health – Maricopa

Valleywise Health – CHC Pediatrics

2023 Repeat Teen Cloud Award

Adelante Healthcare – West Phoenix

Adelante Healthcare Central Phoenix

Adelante Healthcare Gila Bend

Adelante Healthcare Mesa

Adelante Healthcare Peoria

Adelante Healthcare Wickenburg

Arizona Pediatric Clinics

Banner Children’s Banner Health Clinic – Casa Grande

Banner Wilmot Multi Specialty – Gen Peds

El Rio/El Pueblo Community Health Center

El Rio Southwest Peds Clinic

Evernorth Care Group CJ Harris

Evernorth Care Group South Mountain

Evernorth Care Group – Westridge Pediatrics

Evernorth Care Group Chandler

La Paz County Health Department

Mountain Park Baseline Clinic

Mountain Park Gateway Clinic

Mountain Park Goodyear Clinic

Mountain Park Maryvale Clinic

Mountain Park Tempe Clinic

Nahata’ Dziil Health Center

Paloma Pediatrics

Pediatric MultiCare West

Primary Care and Pediatrics

Providence Pediatrics

Southeast El Rio

Sun Life Center for Children

Tuscany Children Clinic Yuma, AZ

United Community Health Center Three Points

Valleywise Community Health Center – West Maryvale

Valleywise Health – Avondale Community Health Center

Valleywise Health – Guadalupe Community Health Center

Yuma Sunset Health Center Pediatrics

2023 Catch-Up Teen Cloud Award

Hopi Health Care Center

Valleywise Health Community Health Center Peoria-Primary Care

2023 Honorable Mention Teen Cloud Award

Sun Life FHC – Dobson (Chandler)