Nursing school, ECDOH receive national recognition

UB’s School of Nursing and Erie County’s Department of Health shared national recognition this summer for best practices that address local public health challenges as they received an award given by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).  

The Model and Promising Practice Awards are presented annually by NACCHO to recognize excellence in local public health. The awards were presented during the organization’s annual awards ceremony July 16 in Louisville, Ky. 

These annual awards not only recognize but include sharing with other county and city health officials public health care programs that have been successfully implemented in communities across the nation — including the winning program administered by UB’s School of Nursing and the county’s Health Department. As part of the recognition at the event, UB and ECDOH team members spoke to county and city health officials who were in attendance from across the nation about the program with the Buffalo Public School system. 

Model Practices are programs that demonstrate exemplary and replicable qualities in response to a critical local public health need, and Promising Practices have demonstrated exciting approaches and strategies to local public health challenges that are on track to becoming Model Practices.

UB and the Erie County Department of Health won for “M-Vax: A Unique Approach to Getting Students ‘Up to Date’ for School Attendance.” 

“This Model Practice award from the National Association of City and County Health Officials recognizes how creating model practice initiatives between a school of nursing and a county health department can improve vaccination rates among school children and prevent communicable disease spread in response to critical public health needs,” says Annette B. Wysocki, dean and professor in the School of Nursing.  

“It has the added bonus of helping to educate nursing students on safe immunization practices while advancing public health using one of the most effective disease prevention strategies ever developed based on sound research evidence,” she adds. “We are thrilled to receive this award that recognizes exemplary Model Practice or Promising Practice initiatives among over 3,300 cities and counties.” 

The winning project addresses the need for all New York State students attending public, private or parochial schools to provide proof of receiving required vaccinations, unless they present a valid medical exemption. 

“Many Buffalo Public School (BPS) students lacked access to a primary care provider (PCP), a critical barrier to receiving necessary vaccinations,” according to the award application.  

“The local healthcare system, including ECDOH, became overwhelmed by the sheer number of students requesting vaccines,” according to the award application, “leading to extensive wait times for a first PCP visit and limited availability, making it difficult for families to meet vaccination requirements in time for school attendance. In fall of 2024, over 1,700 Buffalo Public School (BPS) students were excluded from school due to incomplete vaccination records, causing disruptions in their education and further stressing the local healthcare system.” 

The Erie County Department of Health partnered with UB’s School of Nursing to create the Mobile Vaccine Initiative (M-Vax). The goal was to reduce the high number of school exclusions by increasing the proportion of BPS students who were “up to date” on required vaccinations, according to the application. 

The School of Nursing set up the vaccine clinics, developed standard operating procedures, coordinated staff, administered vaccines and referred families to PCPs confirmed to accept new patients. Its students, faculty, and staff were responsible for organizing the vaccination clinics’ logistical details and facilitating direct delivery of vaccines at school locations.

“The primary objective of reducing school exclusions due to vaccination status was largely achieved, with the proportion of BPS students up to date with required vaccines increasing and exclusions dropping to just 0.8% of BPS student population,” the application notes. 

The partnership between UB’s School of Nursing and the county’s Department of Health continues this month when both team up for this year’s M-VAX clinics. The initiative continues to bring vaccines directly to where families live and gather, reducing barriers to care, supporting children’s health and helping more students stay in school. 

“It takes all of us, working together, to build a protective shield of immunity against debilitating and deadly illnesses. Decades of scientific inquiry, discovery and deliberation have led to this time, when we have a robust set of vaccines that ensure vaccine-preventable diseases are rare, particularly in school-aged children,” says Erie County Commissioner of Health Gale Burstein.  

“Our partnership with Buffalo Public Schools and the University at Buffalo School of Nursing is delivering immediate and long-lasting benefits. Our project contributed to making sure hundreds of students could remain in school, and is reducing the risk of communicable disease spread within our schools and our community,” adds Burstein, who is also a clinical professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.