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Montrose County public health aims to resume vaccination clinics and has $326,000 state eHealth award
Summary
Montrose County Public Health Director Mirza Ahmed told the Board of County Commissioners the department plans to restart vaccination clinics in January–February and has received a $326,000 award from the Office of the eHealth Innovation to improve rural health data systems and support clinic activities.
Mirza Ahmed, director of Montrose County Public Health, told the county board at a Nov. 3 work session that the department plans to resume vaccination clinics in January or February and will hold a public outreach event on Nov. 13 to begin community engagement.
Ahmed said the clinics would offer a focused set of vaccines for children and adults — including measles and flu — and emphasized that vaccination would remain voluntary, accompanied by education on benefits and risks. “When people come for the vaccine, we’ll talk about the advantage of the, and the benefit of the vaccine. And we’ll also talk about disadvantage and the issues of the vaccine,” Ahmed said, describing a counseling approach intended to rebuild trust in the West End.
The director told commissioners the county does not need additional full‑time staff to run the clinics and expects to use existing staff and state‑provided vaccine supplies through a vendor partnership with VaxCare. “We’ll get the funding and the vaccine from the state,” Ahmed said. He explained each administered dose carries a service charge through VaxCare that offsets program costs.
Ahmed also reported the county has been notified of a $326,000 award from the Office of the eHealth Innovation. He said the six‑month grant focuses on rural health data and information‑management improvements, and that the budget includes roughly $28,400 for staff time, about $5,400 for IT equipment, approximately $32,000 in indirect costs and about $110,000 allocated to county activities. Ahmed said additional pending awards could bring total anticipated funding to roughly $400,000 by the end of the month if those grants are successful.
Commissioners asked for clarification on which vaccines would be available and where funding will come from; Ahmed replied the program will focus on a short list of high‑impact vaccines and that existing state allocations previously routed through partner organizations can be reallocated to the county program. He also said the county intends to begin outreach through social media and local contacts this week to publicize the Nov. 13 West End event.
The county will not vote on program authorization at the work session; Ahmed asked the board for agreement to begin preparatory activities and outreach, which staff indicated they would support. The Nov. 13 outreach event and the timing of January–February clinic start were presented as the next procedural steps.
