THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190402
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Getting a kid's shots up to date now can be as simple as walking into one of eight elementary schools, finding the nurse's office and baring an arm.
It's free, it's convenient, and it's not threatening, says Fran Butterfoss, coordinator of CINCH, the Consortium for the Immunization of Norfolk's Children. CINCH is trying to increase the number of children here who are fully immunized.
Only about 48 percent of the city's children have received the recommended immunizations against measles, diphtheria, polio and whooping cough by age 2. That's shy of Virginia's 54 percent rate and the United States' 70 percent.
CINCH is providing the shots in elementary schools from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on school days. No appointment is necessary.
``I don't know of any other place in the country where this is going on,'' Butterfoss said. ``It's a pretty new idea.''
The program is being funded with a $596,500 grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The plan stemmed from the success of a weeklong immunization program held last year by the Norfolk Health Department and CINCH in several elementary schools, Butterfoss said.
About 150 children were immunized during that week, she said. More important was parents' positive reaction to the clinics.
``It got us thinking that parents really will come to the schools,'' Butterfoss said. ``That they'll just put the kids in the stroller and walk over. It's a lot less threatening than going to the Health Department, and there's no transportation problem.''
Butterfoss hopes more will emerge from this program than just immunized kids. She hopes that the families will look to school nurses as community care-givers and that the nurses will refer parents to other health services.
``The nurse, then, is finding these children who slip through cracks, screening them as they come in and recommending to them a more ongoing level of care,''she said.
CINCH has also arranged with Tidewater Regional Transit to provide parents with free bus passes to take their children to and from health clinics and doctors' offices for immunizations.
The tickets are available at the four health clinics - Berkeley, Little Creek, Huntersville and Park Place, at the DePaul Medical Center clinic, at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters children's outpatient center and at Dr. Ogu Emejuru's office near Norfolk Community Hospital.
CINCH has also begun using an autodialer system, which automatically calls parents and reminds them when it's time for their child's shots.
The autodialer is being loaned to pediatricians so they can test it and decide whether they should buy one for their offices. Butterfoss is sure they will: ``Our sense is that once they try it, it just increases the appointment compliance and thus increases their practice.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Beth Bergman
Five-month-old Benjamin Fenney gets his shots Tuesday from nurse
Barbara Burrus at Monroe Elementary School in Norfolk. The group
CINCH wants to increase the number of city children who are fully
immunized.
Graphic
For Norfolk Kids, Shots are a cinch
The Norfolk Department of Public Health Nurses will give shots
for pre-school children at the following elementary schools from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m. on regular school days:
Monroe Elementary, 520 W. 29th St.
Coleman Place Elementary, 2450 Rush St.
Ingleside Elementary, 976 Ingleside Rd.
Tanners Creek Elementary, 1335 Longdale Dr.
Bay View Elementary, 1434 E. Bayview Blvd.
Jacox Elementary, 1300 Marshall Ave.
Oceanair Elementary, 600 Dudley Ave.
Young Park Elementary, 543 E. Olney Rd.
In honor of National Infant Immunization Week (April 22 - 29),
free shots will also be given at:
Children's Harbor Child Care Center, 412 Bank Street, 3-6 p.m.
April 25
Park Place Evening Clinic, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. April 25,26,27
Bowling Park Elementary, 3-6 p.m., April 27
Berkley-Campostella Early Childhood Education Center, 3-6 p.m.,
April 28
Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church, 7036 Chesapeake Blvd., 9
a.m. - 4 p.m., April 29
For information about military and hospital clinics, or private
doctors, call Children's Health Line at 668-7500.
KEYWORDS: IMMUNIZATIONS NORFOLK SCHOOLS
by CNB