Introducing Priority 3 of the Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund

Boulder Community Health (BCH) Foundation President, Grant Besser, provided an email update Feb. 25 to community members regarding Priority 3 of the Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund and the vaccination rollout.

Dear Friend of BCH Foundation,

In March of 2020, The BCH Foundation launched the COVID-19 Response Fund which focused on two priorities: supporting our greatest asset, our people, and to remove any barriers to providing the best treatment for COVID-19.

The support of over 1,000 community members contributing over $1.7 million has enabled BCH to quickly mobilize to provide the best care and treatment throughout this critical period in history. We cannot thank the community enough for their generosity during this unprecedented time.

To learn more about the COVID-19 Response Fund successes to date, click here

Introducing Priority 3: Vaccinating the Communtiy

With 2021 well underway, our pandemic priorities have shifted to focus on the successful community-wide rollout of the vaccine.

Due to our strong preparation throughout the fall, we established a mass vaccine clinic at the Della Cava Family Medical Pavilion, starting in December 2020.

I'm pleased to report that our vaccine clinic has reached an exciting milestone: BCH has now vaccinated almost 24,000 people, including some 18,000 people age 65 and older, along with 2,600 staff and educators from Boulder Valley School District (as of March 5).

The good news is that the cost of the actual vaccine is paid for by the federal government and our hope is that Medicare and commercial insurance will reimburse our costs for the direct administration of the vaccine. The challenge is that reimbursement will not be enough to cover many other costs (e.g., labor that supports the vaccine clinic, low-temperature freezers, the clinic space, IT investment, communications, insurance processing, and much more) which is financially challenging for BCH when we are vaccinating over 500 individuals a day.

As of now, our estimate is that losses for BCH will be approximately $25 per dose, which already adds up to $750,000 for the 30,000 doses that have been administered and will likely be over $2.5 million as we hope to vaccinate over 50,000 individuals by the end of summer 2021.

Despite these financial constraints, it’s important to note we are unwavering in our commitment to maximize our role in the equitable rollout of the vaccine since this is the most critical measure to decrease deaths and attain immunity in our community. This effort truly meets BCH’s vision of “partnering to create and care for the healthiest community in the nation.”

My ask to you is for you to join us in this effort by making a contribution that will 100% go towards helping BCH to cover associated vaccination costs not reimbursed by insurance.

Donate to the COVID-19 Vaccination Fund here.

The support we have received since March of 2020 has enabled us to take care of our front-line providers as well as ensure we are providing the best treatment for COVID-19. We hope you will consider supporting us in our final phase of the COVID-19 Response Fund to vaccinate you as well as your family, friends, and the broader community.

You have our commitment that we will continue to put 100% of your donations to work in support of the stated priorities.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at gbesser@bch.org with any questions. In the meantime, on behalf of approximately 2,000 staff and physicians hard at work at BCH, I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for all you have done for your community health system.

We are forever grateful.

With deep respect and gratitude,
Grant Besser
BCH Foundation President