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Hours after launching their respective COVID-19 vaccination appointment offers on Thursday, two of California’s largest healthcare providers were inundated with a crush of anxious vaccine seekers, pushing their systems to the point of rupture and raising questions about readiness for deployment in the state.
Sutter Health’s website crashed and Kaiser Permanente’s phone line warned callers they could face wait times of up to four hours, leaving many seniors in the state confused and frustrated.
The high demand for scarce life-saving supplies comes as California and its largest healthcare providers attempt to speed up administration of its vaccines to those at highest risk of dying.
Ranking 43rd in the country for its slowness in getting people vaccinated, California state officials said on Wednesday that people 65 and older would be eligible to receive the vaccine earlier than expected, although it is up to each county and health care providers to decide. how quickly they open dates to certain age groups and phases of the general public.
Sutter Health, which also owns the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, on Thursday morning launched vaccine appointments for Californians at least 75 years old and healthcare workers. People eligible to receive their first dose were allowed to make appointments through Sutter’s call center or through the healthcare provider’s My Health Online portal.
But for most of the afternoon, many online users were unable to access the Sutter Health website.
Those who could access the home page – if only briefly – were greeted with a message that read: “System Notice: Due to high demand for immunization planning, My Health Online and our calls may be temporarily offline or slow. “
“Please do not call your site of care or your provider’s office for scheduling. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve these issues, ”he continued.
By the afternoon of the afternoon, Sutter’s immunization appointment phone line had reached its “call capacity,” and a recording directed patients to his website for scheduling, which appeared to be operational again. .
Theresa Carey, 65, of Palo Alto, spent all day switching between Sutter’s website and the cell phone app trying to secure a coveted date with her husband. And when she finally managed to log in and go through the dating questionnaire on Thursday afternoon, she realized that Sutter had only opened dates to members of the general public aged 75. and over – not 65 years old.
“We were thrilled,” said Carey. “… Looks like they’re trying to scramble to put it all together.”
In a statement, Sutter said he will expand eligibility and notify his patients as vaccine supply and appointment capacity increases. Until then, the health care provider asks patients to be patient.
“We share the enthusiasm and hope that comes with the COVID-19 vaccine and we are working extremely hard to meet the planning requests of eligible patients,” the statement said.
Patricia S., 75, from Dublin, said it took about an hour of persistence for her to get deep enough to Sutter’s website to make an appointment after having kicked her off the page several times and fed its error messages.
“I was like, ‘I can ride this horse to the barn, I can keep doing this,’ she said.
Although she said that “it was not a hardship” for a person her age who had free time to spend an hour making an appointment, she added that Sutter, being such a great caregiver of health, “should do better”.
Kaiser Permanente, which has opened a limited number of appointments for Californians 65 and older, healthcare workers, patients, and long-term care staff, has faced similar issues with downtimes. four hour wait on her phone line for appointments.
Nancy Thomas, 77, of Newark, waited over an hour before making an appointment with Kaiser to receive her first dose of the life-saving vaccine.
Kaiser’s rep she spoke with initially offered her a date at a San Leandro property, but the agent told her the reservation was gone as she watched it, likely hung up by another. nobody. After searching for the next available date nearby, Thomas secured a spot for the end of next week at Kaiser Santa Clara.
“I would have waited five hours because it’s so important for me to get the vaccine,” Thomas said in an interview. “I think as the word goes out, they’ll be even more overwhelmed.”
Kaiser currently only allows patients to register for appointments over the phone, but plans to set up an online self-service portal by next week to give eligible people the opportunity to book an appointment. you online if vaccines are available, according to a company statement.
“Of course, the current limited vaccine supplies can cause frustration among those eligible for vaccination, but we hope that the supplies will increase and allow us to vaccinate more people more quickly,” the statement said.
In addition to the main Bay Area health care providers, people were also having issues with the county health services.
When Mel and Phil Epps, of Lafayette, received an email from the Contra Costa County Health Department on Thursday morning letting them know they could make an appointment to get their vaccine, they were elated and immediately jumped in. on their computer.
Each on their own device, they went through their quizzes and received a notification that they had both marked a spot.
But all was not good.
Mel, 77, had been booked for a date in San Pablo while Phil, 80, had one in Martinez. Worried about the long drive to an unfamiliar area, Mel spent about an hour calling the various phone numbers listed for the health department without the chance to get a live voice.
“They’ve had a year and more to put things in place, and they’re already having issues with the system,” he said.
“Let’s just say it didn’t do any good for my blood pressure.”
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