Ozark County employees at BRMC among first to get covid vaccine


Gainesville resident Jodi Leeker, director of Behavior Health at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Arkansas, happily posted this photo after she got her first covid-19 vaccination at the hospital. She will get the second of two shots in three weeks. Registered nurse Jodi Bodenhamer gave Leeker the shot.

Much of the world heaved a guarded sigh of relief last week when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for a second vaccine aimed at preventing covid-19, a virus now raging at pandemic levels in many countries, including the U.S. 

At press time Tuesday, Ozark County Health Department administrator Rhonda Suter said the county would be receiving supplies of the vaccine soon, but none have arrived yet. She said the OCHD office has signed up to be a “vaccinator,” and medical offices in the county will also be  getting the vaccine if they have also signed up as vaccinators. Suter said Gainesville Health Care Center will also be getting the vaccine, “or their doses may be sent to us to deliver,” she said. 

While it’s believed no covid vaccinations have been given in the county itself, some Ozark Countians have already had the first of the two shots required to be fully vaccinated.

Gainesville resident Jodi Leeker, director of Behavioral Health at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Arkansas, last week proudly posted a photo on her Facebook page showing her getting the first of two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine at the hospital. 

Other Ozark Countians who work at BRMC also got the first of the two shots last week, including clinical coordinator Susan Campbell, surgery reception coordinator Diane Cockrum Ellison, patient financial services employee Shannon McGee and 3 West nursing director Shannah O’Dell. The second shot is to be administered in three weeks.

While most Americans are believed to be eager to be the vaccine, which is to be given first to front-line healthcare workers and those over age 75, Leeker acknowledged that some people are hesitant to be vaccinated, in part because the vaccine was developed and now is being delivered within a single year – an almost unheard-of achievement. 

“Fear tactics play on people’s vulnerabilities, and so much misinformation is out there, people have a hard time deciphering what is true and what isn’t,” Leeker said. “I do not get my information from social media. I focus on what the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] and the scientists (who know more than I do) say about the clinical trials they have conducted. Personally, I want out of this pandemic, and I want to do my part for society to return back to normal. I am healthy, and I might do just fine even if I did get the virus,” Leeker said, but she feels strongly that being vaccinated will help curb the spread of the virus.

Leeker said she respects that some people have personal or medical reasons for not being vaccinated, and she agrees it’s a personal decision each person needs to consider. 

She also shared a photo of Mountain Home physician Lonnie Robinson, whose practice serves several Ozark Countians. With a photo showing nurse practitioner Corinne Hiser giving him the shot, Robinson posted these thoughts: 

“Not for myself. For my mom and mother-in-law. For my patients. For my colleagues and other healthcare workers who are battle-weary. For the families who have lost loved ones. For the small business owners who are on the brink of losing it all. For the kids who have missed ball games and birthday parties. For anyone who is tired of talking about COVID and lockdowns and masks. This one’s for you. Let’s end it.” 

Ozarks Healthcare (formerly Ozarks Medical Center) in West Plains announced that it had received its first shipment of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine Monday, Dec. 21, and had administered the first doses that same day to front-line medical workers. The second shot of the Moderna vaccine is to be given in four weeks.

The hospital’s announcement said, “Per government regulations, Ozarks Healthcare is permitted to administer the vaccine to its healthcare coworkers in the national initial vaccine rollout phase. The organization will then be able to administer the vaccine to other essential personnel in healthcare, nursing facilities, emergency services, law enforcement, firefighting, and other organizations. Once Ozarks Healthcare is permitted to open vaccinations to the public, more information will be provided.”

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423