Early this morning, Emergency Department Physician Assistant Maria Carey became the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Nantucket Cottage Hospital. This is a monumental day in our fight against the pandemic. The vaccine is the most important intervention that will help us bring COVID-19 under control and get us back to normal. Over the next few days we will vaccinate our first 40 staff members and will continue holding employee vaccination clinics until all staff who want to be vaccinated are able to do so. We want to thank the team that has pulled together to begin providing vaccinations to staff, and all of you for your perseverance over the past 10 months. We still have work to do and we must remain vigilant, but today is time to celebrate this important step in bringing the pandemic to an end.

December 16, 2020 – They’re here! The first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived on Nantucket this morning. Tomorrow we will begin vaccinating frontline NCH staff members most closely involved in COVID-19 patient care and testing. Today is a monumental day in our fight against the pandemic. The vaccine is the most important intervention that will help us bring COVID-19 under control and get us back to normal.

NANTUCKET – What many are calling the next big thing in health care has already been happening at Nantucket Cottage Hospital for more than a decade.

In 2003, the hospital started its “Tele Derm” program, which allows dermatologists in Boston to interact with patients on Nantucket in real time using cameras and video screens. The hospital partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after Nantucket administrators, including the late Jane Bonvini, former director of nursing, saw a need for the service.

With a year-round population that hovers around 10,000, Nantucket did not need a full-time specialist like a dermatologist, said Joanne Bushong, a nurse practitioner at the hospital who worked with Bonvini to start the program. Other hospital leaders, like Dr. Margot Hartmann, now the president and CEO, and Bonnie Kester, vice president of patient care services, were supportive of the program.

In its 13th year, the program now provides care to about 48 patients a month. Appointments are offered every Friday, May through October…

Read this article in its entirety at Cape Cod Times.