Lake County vaccine program changing April 1
To improve customer service and operate more efficiently, the Lake County Health Department is consolidating its immunizations program.
Affective April 1, the department will end five monthly satellite walk-in clinics for child immunizations in Lake Zurich, Antioch, Lake Forest, Libertyville and Wauconda. It’s also expanding hours at its main appointment-only clinic at the Belvidere Medical Building campus in Waukegan.
The health department’s immunization program is a major provider of vaccines to needy children in Lake County. More than 95 percent of the 25,000 vaccinations it provided in 2011 went to children.
Most of the residents eligible for vaccine services live in the northeast part of Lake County, making Waukegan the most convenient location for the majority of people eligible for services.
“This consolidation effort is based on resident needs and usage,” said Irene Pierce, the department’s executive director. “We found that most of our satellite locations were underutilized, and wanted to bring more services to the most utilized location.”
In the past year, half of all child immunizations were for people living in Waukegan or in neighboring Grayslake, Gurnee, Lake Bluff, Libertyville, North Chicago, Park City, Wadsworth, Wildwood, Winthrop Harbor, Zion and the Great Lakes Naval Station.
Once-a-month child immunization clinic times will continue in February and March at the satellite locations: Harvest Bible Church in Lake Zurich; Advocate Condell Medical Center conference Center in Libertyville; VFW Post No. 4551 in Antioch; Wauconda Township Center in Wauconda; and Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest.
Child immunization clinic hours will continue by appointment at the health department’s immunizations clinic, 2303 Dodge Ave., Waukegan. The hours are: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays; 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 1 to 6 p.m. Thursdays; and the second Saturday of each month from 9 to 11 a.m.
Starting in April, appointments on an additional Saturday and for three more hours on Wednesdays will be available at the Waukegan site.
For more information, visit www.lakecountyil.gov/Health/want/Pages/Immunization.aspx.