妮可·戈萨奇（Nicole Gorsuch）最近收到了一笔赠款，为低收入、老年人和行动不便的患者提供家庭免疫接种，以填补密苏里州部分农村地区存在的医疗缺口。
对妮可·戈萨奇（Nickie Gorsuch）来说，从田纳西大学药学院毕业后，成为一名成熟的药剂师的最后一步是在社区实习一年。 戈萨奇在密苏里州查尔斯顿通过威尼斯人娱乐城和镇上的L & S药房之间的合作关系得到了匹配。 查尔斯顿是密苏里州东南部农村的一个服务不足的城镇，而戈萨奇正是威尼斯人娱乐城希望派往这些地区的候选人。
“Nickie came to our program ready to be molded, excited to learn and ready to practice her skills,” said Sara Opronovich, Pharm.D., the school’s residency program director and Gorsuch’s supervisor.
戈萨奇去年夏天来到查尔斯顿，很快就目睹了那里缺乏可获得和健全的医疗保健。
“We have, like, one doctor that comes to town once a week,” she said.
缺乏保健设施，再加上交通有限和住房不安全，意味着居民往往更有可能患上未经治疗的疾病，如果不加以干预，可能会恶化。 戈萨奇有自己的工作要做。
作为查尔斯顿唯一的药房，L & S药房是一家社区药房，有诊所日为居民接种疫苗。 During these days, Gorsuch noticed several patients weren’t able to come into the pharmacy to receive their vaccines.
“I was like, ‘well, why don’t we just go to them?’” Gorsuch said.
这个项目开始时规模很小。
“One day, we had a few patients, so we just lined them up on our calendar to just go to them to give them their vaccines because, again, they don’t have a car,” she said. “We don’t have Ubers or taxis or anything. They have to walk, and a lot of our elderly population just don’t have the resources to get the things they need.”
随着家庭疫苗需求的增长，戈萨奇开始更深入地思考这个项目能为居民做些什么。
“That’s why we applied for this grant through Missouri Pharmacy Association,” Gorsuch said.
“In rural and underserved locations like southeast Missouri, these problems are amplified,” Opronovich said. “The seemingly simple intervention of giving a shot is also more difficult with fewer providers and more challenges with social determinants of health. Nickie’s work points out the added challenge of providing this health resource and shines a light on the need to provide funding for such interventions.”
来自6万美元赠款的资金于2023年底收到，使l&s药房能够进行运输筛查，以评估哪些患者可以前往药房，哪些患者需要在家或分娩护理。 This gives Gorsuch and the team a more complete picture of their patients’ challenges. 这笔资金还包括药房团队的交通费以及一些没有保险的病人的疫苗费用。
Gorsuch’s in-home immunization program has shed even more light on the existing health-care challenges that rural communities face.
“We had a patient who has been to the pharmacy a lot, and I never knew that he didn’t have transportation (until screening), but he walked to the pharmacy,” Gorsuch said. “I never knew because I never asked. 我们问的越多，知道的就越多。
“It’s not a really walkable area, but for some patients it has to be because they don’t have any other way.”
Gorsuch’s work at L & S Pharmacy will continue through the end of her residency in summer 2024. 该项目至少在未来五个月有足够的资金。 在查尔斯顿的杂货店等社区合作伙伴的帮助下，戈萨奇希望能够接触到更多尚未进入医疗保健系统的潜在患者。 杂货店和食品储藏室等社区合作伙伴就疫苗的好处以及当地药房如何提供帮助展开了对话。
“The more we can get out to the people, the better we are able to capture everyone,” Gorsuch said.