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On June 30, Mayor Menino and the City of Boston recognized BWH and Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center for outstanding contributions to 2009-2010 H1N1 prevention and response. Boston Medical Center was also acknowledged.
“When we did a debriefing of BWH’s H1N1 response, one of the things that was brought up was the extraordinary communication, teamwork and collaboration among departments, from Nursing to Infection Control to Ambulatory to Pharmacy—literally dozens of departments that participated in planning, distribution and coordination of information,” said Barry Wante, director of BWH’s Center for Emergency Preparedness. “This certainly helped us manage our H1N1 response during the late fall and winter months, and we’re proud to be identified as a true success story.”
BWH helped implement a number of community-wide efforts, including the support of the metropolitan medical response system, the staffing of community health clinics for seasonal flu vaccinations and ensuring that pregnant women at high risk for H1N1 complications had access to the H1N1 vaccine.
“Our response demonstrated that we are able to collaborate and communicate as necessary in response to a pandemic,” said Wante. “While H1N1 wasn’t as virulent as initially feared, this experience gave us an opportunity to identify best practices for potential future outbreaks.”