News

Baptist Health Care, Navy Federal Collaborate to Vaccinate Workforce

3/22/2021

Baptist Health Care (BHC) and Navy Federal Credit Union are working together to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible Navy Federal team members and their families. This combined effort between the two largest non-governmental employers in the region is expected to make a significant impact on efforts to achieve overall community vaccination.

“Vaccination is critical to our efforts to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19 so that our community is safe, healthy and able to move more quickly to returning to a more normal way of life,” said Scott Raynes, Executive Vice President, Baptist Health Care. “Doing all we can to ensure the safety of our local workforce is essential to driving our economy. As COVID-19 numbers decline and our local economy looks to return to full force, we are excited to serve Navy Federal and other community employers in helping them and their employees find a new normal.”

Navy Federal is providing paid time off for employees to get vaccinated. Navy Federal team members and their family members who meet the current State of Florida qualifying guidelines for receiving the vaccine will be able to schedule a vaccination appointment through BHC’s existing scheduling portals which include online, email and phone. Vaccinations will initially be administered at BHC facilities. As state guidelines are adjusted to open eligibility to more people, large-scale on-site vaccination clinics will be offered to reach an even broader number of Navy Federal employees and their families.

“This relationship with Baptist Health Care allows us to continue to help our team through the pandemic, making it simpler for them to get a vaccine for themselves or their family," said Kara Cardona, SVP of Greater Pensacola for Navy Federal Credit Union. "We're thankful to our local healthcare community for its incredible response to this health crisis, and we hope everyone does their part to keep the community safe from COVID-19.”

The collaboration with Navy Federal is not the first BHC has forged in efforts to administer vaccinations across Northwest Florida. Since the vaccine became available, BHC has partnered with the departments of health in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, public and private schools in both counties, and with local church congregations through the Baptist Faith Health Network. In addition, BHC has made appointments available to members of the greater community who meet Governor DeSantis’ guidelines. To date, BHC has administered nearly 19,000 vaccine doses.

Baptist continues to offer vaccine appointments to all eligible members of the community and currently has appointments available. Eligibility guidelines are updated frequently and can be found at eBaptistHealthCare.org.

Appointments can be made one of three easy ways: