Green Bay, Wis. – Prevea Health and HSHS hospitals across Wisconsin are encouraging community members to get their flu shot as the flu season approaches amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have one tool that we can use against the flu that we don’t have yet for COVID-19. That tool is a vaccine, and getting vaccinated for the flu is the most important step you can take to prevent the disease,” said Dr. Ashok Rai, President and CEO, Prevea Health.
The flu vaccine fights a different group of flu viruses each year; therefore, it’s important to be vaccinated yearly. Flu shots are especially important for young children, pregnant women, people age 65 and older, and people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes, or heart and lung disease.
“We are urging as many people as able to get their flu vaccination this year as soon as possible,” said Dr. Rai.
Appointments for flu vaccines are now available at Prevea Health locations across Wisconsin. Appointments can be scheduled by calling (888) 277-3832, and through the MyPrevea patient portal at myprevea.com. Flu vaccine clinics with extended evening and weekend hours are also available. For more information, please visit: www.prevea.com/flu.
“As COVID-19 still exists in our communities, it is more important now than ever to get a flu shot to keep ourselves and loved ones healthy, and to ensure our community hospitals do not become overwhelmed by these two very infectious diseases,” said Ken Nelson, Chief Nursing Officer for HSHS St. Vincent and St. Mary’s hospitals. “Flu vaccine prevents tens of thousands of hospitalizations each year. During 2018-2019, flu vaccinations prevented an estimated 58,000 flu-related hospitalizations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Additional insight about the upcoming flu season and the concerns it poses for health care and our communities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is provided in the latest episode of Prevea Health’s podcast,
Plug in to Health. To listen, visit
www.prevea.com/podcast or download
Plug in to Health for free on Apple, Google Play or other major podcasting platforms. The episode is called, “Fight the Flu.”
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About HSHS Wisconsin
HSHS Wisconsin, a division of Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS), is comprised of six hospitals serving multiple communities throughout Eastern and Western Wisconsin:
HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and
HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay;
HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan;
HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls;
HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and
HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls. As affiliates of HSHS, and as part of Christ’s healing ministry, these hospitals draw on the history of St. Francis of Assisi to serve the health care needs of all people.
About Hospital Sisters Health System
Hospital Sisters Health System’s (HSHS) mission is to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through our high quality, Franciscan health care ministry. HSHS provides state-of-the-art health care to our patients and is dedicated to serving all people, especially the most vulnerable, at each of our 15 Local Systems and physician practices in Illinois (Breese, Decatur, Effingham, Greenville, Highland, Litchfield, O’Fallon, Shelbyville and Springfield) and Wisconsin (Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Oconto Falls, Sheboygan, and two in Green Bay). HSHS is sponsored by Hospital Sisters Ministries. For more information about HSHS, visit
www.hshs.org. For more information about Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, visit
www.hospitalsisters.org.
About Prevea Health
Founded in Green Bay, Wis. in 1996, Prevea Health is a health care organization that provides high-quality, primary and specialty health care in 100+ locations across northern, eastern and western Wisconsin in clinic and hospital settings. It is partnered with six Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) hospitals across Wisconsin to provide patients a system of highly-coordinated care, close to home: HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay; HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan; HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls; HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire; and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls. For more information, visit
www.prevea.com.