MedStar Health to Hold Free Drive-Thru Flu Clinics This Weekend

MedStar Franklin Square Holds 11th Annual Event; First Time for MedStar Harbor Hospital

BALTIMORE, MD—(October 31, 2017)—Baltimoreans won’t need to leave their cars to get a flu shot this weekend.

At MedStar Harbor Hospital Saturday, attendees of the hospital’s first drive-thru flu clinic can get a free flu shot right through their vehicle window, just by driving up on the south parking lot of the campus:  3001 S. Hanover Street.  Clinicians will be ready to administer the shots to anyone in the car aged six months and up, who don’t have a known allergy to the vaccine, at no charge.

And for their 11th year, more than 30 clinical staff members of MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center will be in place Sunday at the Community College of Baltimore County, Essex campus, to give out free flu shots starting at 8 am. The clinic will continue until noon or when supplies run out.  More than 1400 people were vaccinated during last year’s event.

Since 2007, MedStar Health has worked closely with county agencies to hold the clinic, including the Baltimore County Health and Human Services, Police, Fire and Public Works departments, and the Community College of Baltimore County, which allows the use of its Essex campus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 200,000 Americans are hospitalized each year because of flu complications. The number of people who die each year from flu-related causes in the United States ranges from 3,000 to 49,000.

To protect against the flu, the CDC recommends annual vaccination for those six months and older, as well as those at higher risk of developing flu complications, including children under five; adults over 65; pregnant women; residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities; those with weakened immune systems; and people with chronic illnesses such as asthma, heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes.

MedStar Harbor Hospital

When:                 Saturday, November 4, 2017, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. or until supplies run out

Where:               MedStar Harbor Hospital, 3001 S Hanover St, Baltimore, south parking lot

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

When:                Sunday, November 5, 2017, 8 a.m. until Noon, or when supplies run out

Where:               Community College of Baltimore County, Essex campus, 7201 Rossville Blvd, Baltimore

#

About MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center is a not-for-profit 378-bed community teaching hospital located in the White Marsh section of eastern Baltimore County, Maryland. MedStar Franklin Square provides many medical and healthcare services, including a broad range of healthcare specialties, advanced technologies and treatments not traditionally found at community hospitals. The hospital is ranked third in admissions among all Maryland hospitals and is first in Emergency Department visits with more than 108,000 visits annually. MedStar Franklin Square is accredited by the Joint Commission and certified as a Primary Stroke Center and has earned some of the nation’s most prestigious quality awards including Magnet Designation for excellence in nursing, the Excellence Award for Quality Improvement from the Delmarva Foundation and inclusion in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospital specialty ranking for four consecutive years. With more than 3,300 employees, MedStar Franklin Square is one of the largest employers in Baltimore County. Visit medstarfranklin.org for more information.

About MedStar Harbor Hospital

After more than a century of healing, MedStar Harbor Hospital is a mainstay in the community, serving patients from Baltimore City, and Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties at our convenient waterside location, with the services of a large, regional medical center in a smaller, more personal environment. With more than 350 affiliated physicians representing 30 medical and surgical specialties, and 1,200 associates, the hospital offers a full range of health care services for patients from infancy through the senior years. From general medicine and surgery, obstetrics, diabetes, pain management, arthritis, orthopaedics, and geriatrics to cardiology and urology, and now behavioral health, our team of caring physicians and associates serves the unique needs of every patient. In 2016, MedStar Harbor Hospital was named a top hospital in Maryland and in the Baltimore metro area by U.S. News & World Report, receiving high performance ratings in specialty areas, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Gynecology, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Heart Failure, Pulmonology, and Orthopaedics.