How It All Began // The Pathfinder
Dr. Sheila Young-Mercado:
How It All Began // The Pathfinder
Sheila Young-Mercado has a strong professional interest in the training and development of young professionals destined to be the outstanding physicians and scientists of tomorrow. She is Director of the Pre-Medical Academy at Charles R. Dew University. She is also Director, Enhanced Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program which serves as a gateway to deserving students finding their way to outstanding medical schools for training. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the CDU College of Medicine.
Dr. Sheila Young-Mercado
Dr. Young-Mercado, along with Dr. Jimmy Hara, took the lead in establishing the COVID-19 testing site that served as a national model as people from many communities visited the CDU campus. For her efforts, Dr. Young-Mercado received many accolades and national renown through her insight, tireless work, and compassion.
Dr. Jimmy Hara
I
was asked on the Sunday night before the opening to coordinate the CDU vaccine outreach program. I had already developed a network, so I contacted the partners with whom we had previously worked. We created a sign-up document and brought on the case manager and driver from the Street Medicine program. It was difficult for me since I was pretty sick. I was getting over a bout with COVID myself. were signed up and prioritized for vaccination. It was a total community effort. And our partners were able to draw from their previous relationships to ensure success. People were very receptive. The future looks promising, and we are doing everything that we can.
We had some amazing community partners such as Corey Matthews, COO of Community Coalition, who was able to get the word out to his constituents. The initial sites were located at Jesse Owens and Magic Johnson Parks. On the first day of the rollout, we vaccinated 250 people and had to turn away a lot of others. With people from other communities there to be vaccinated, we also put in a zip code requirement. We instructed our team to be kind to clients.
CDU students went with iPads into the surrounding community. They went to Superior Market to make sure that all cashiers and other frontline workers
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 16