William Donald Schaefer Helping People Award
Choptank Community Health
DENTON — The Comptroller for Maryland’s 2020 William Donald Schaefer Helping People Award has given the recognition to Choptank Community Health System for its leadership in the COVID-19 pandemic. The recognition was given to Choptank Community Health by Comptroller Peter Franchot at a July 13 virtual presentation.
This award is given annually to individuals and organisations from each of the 23 Baltimore County counties that best reflect William Donald Schaefer’s extraordinary legacy of public service, selflessness, and leadership. Awardees are nominated by peers.
Choptank Health was Caroline County’s primary testing centre and was cited as a valuable partner in the fight to contain COVID-19. It also continues to provide high-quality, integrated healthcare for those in need.
“Choptank Health” is a crucial piece of the healthcare system, said Sara Rich, CEO of Choptank Community Health. We collaborate with hospitals, state and local governments, as well as social, health, business, and other organisations to improve the health outcomes of medically vulnerable patients.
Rich stated that Choptank Community Health’s mission to provide access to healthcare for all is the core of recent testing and vaccination clinics. COVID-19 testing was performed and vaccines were introduced into underserved communities through partnerships with local emergency and health departments.
Choptank Health collaborated with the Caroline County emergency operation centre to share information and track initial spread of COVID-19. They were the first to offer COVID-19 testing at Choptank Health’s curbside and drive-up locations. In partnership with Caroline County Public Schools, they also provided community mass testing sites.
Choptank Health’s outreach to the region’s most difficult-to-reach and hesitant communities was expanded by Choptank Health’s vaccinations and testing. This included the Avalon Theatre Multicultural Festivals service and clinics for the county’s migrant seafood processor workers. Through events such as the Union United Methodist Church, St. Michaels and Building African-American Minds, Easton, it also provided vaccinations to other communities.
“Choptank Community Health truly embodies all the qualities the William Donald Schaefer Helping Persons Award seeks to emphasise,” stated Sara Visintainer, former Chief of Staff for Caroline County. She nominated Choptank Health for this award. The Choptank Health team is committed to improving communities in Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester Counties every day. They offer affordable, high-quality health and dental care for all.
Visintainer said that Choptank Health has formed extremely valuable public-private partnerships, including with county governments, local health departments, school systems, and schools on the Mid-Shore, to better serve local communities.
Other Eastern Shore recipients include Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge’s Executive Director Emerita, St. Michaels Community Centre Chief Morale Officer Trish Payne, Kent Centre Chief Motivation Officer Larry Wilson and Court Appointed Specialist and The Beauty of Being Black Founder Sharon Robinson. Crisfield Arts Syndicate’s Shawna Kearsley, Fenix Youth Project’s Amber Greene and Jesse Klump Memorial Fund’s Kim Klump.