Seattle, Shoreline and Bellevue clinics honored as 2018 Immunize Washington award winners

International Community Health Service (ICHS) continues to set best practices for its work to protect young patients against future disease and improve vaccination rates in Washington state.

ICHS’s medical clinics in Seattle, Shoreline and Bellevue were recently honored as 2018 Immunize Washington award winners for outstanding success ensuring toddler and teen patients received their recommended vaccines. ICHS’s Seattle clinics in the Chinatown-International District and Holly Park neighborhoods had the highest immunization success rates for adolescents among all of the state’s medical providers.

The award comes on the heels of a prestigious national recognition in November honoring ICHS for outstanding achievements promoting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a defense against several types of cancers. ICHS chief medical officer, Rayburn Lewis, credited a coordinated, whole care team approach for the clinics’ success.

“ICHS recognizes the importance of protecting young people against future disease,” said Lewis. “As a result we take a proactive, multi-pronged approach that leverages every member and resource within the medical team. We also excel in addressing factors such as language and culture that influence the success of our efforts to connect our diverse communities with quality health care.”

As Gold providers, the ICHS Holly Park, Chinatown-International District and Shoreline medical clinics respectively immunized 83% of toddlers and 94% of teens, 90% of toddlers and 89% of teens, and 80% of toddlers. This is the fourth consecutive year the Holly Park and Chinatown-International District clinics have been awarded Gold status, which is given to providers with a minimum 80% success rate ensuring up-to-date patient immunization. The ICHS Shoreline and Bellevue clinics were respectively honored as Silver and Bronze providers for immunization of teens.

The Immunize Washington provider recognition program is overseen by the Washington Health Plan Partnership, which is coordinated by the Washington State Department of Health and the Washington State Health Care Authority. The program recognizes clinics vaccinating 70% or more of their toddler and/or teen patients with recommended vaccines.