AIRA Presents 2006 Recognition Awards
March 7, 2006
The American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA) and its Board of Directors presented its 2006 Recognition Awards on March 7, 2006, at a special Awards Recognition Reception and Program held in Atlanta, GA, during the 2006 National Immunization Conference.
This year AIRA was proud to present their first Special Recognition Awards to two AIRA member organizations that exemplified what it means to rise to the challenge of an extreme situation and do whatever it takes to meet the health needs of their constituents. The Special Recognition Award recipients were:
The Louisiana Immunization Network for Kids Statewide (LINKS). Their excellence of service in the face of extraordinary circumstances during Hurricane Katrina was without parallel. With thousands of families homeless and displaced to other states, some as far away as Alaska, the LINKS staff worked tirelessly to make sure the data in their system was available to registries around the country. This enabled children to start school and avoid the pain of unnecessary vaccinations. In many cases, people displaced by the hurricane had no formal identification other than their immunization record downloaded from LINKS. In the midst of devastation, the LINKS staff rose to the challenge and proved the value of their system and its data.
Dr. Julie Boom, Director, Texas Children’s Hospital Immunization Project, and the Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry Staff. Their outstanding efforts on behalf of the children and families displaced to Houston by Hurricane Katrina through their work to connect the Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry to LINKS began a mobilization that spread throughout the country and demonstrated the value of interstate data sharing. Even before Hurricane Katrina hit, Dr. Boom had the vision and understood the importance of data exchange standards, such as HL7, in making the exchange of health information a reality. Dr. Boom is a long-standing AIRA member and has been a strong and vocal advocate for immunization information systems (IIS).
The 2006 AIRA Partnership Award went to the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) in recognition of their strong and continuing support of immunization information systems and the vital role IIS play in achieving immunization program goals.
The AIRA Volunteer Service Awards were presented this year to Sherry Riddick, CHILD Profile Immunization Manager (WA), for her leadership as the Co-chair of the AIRA Provider Participation Committee, and to Janet Kelly, Public Health Analyst, CDC/NIP/IRSB, for her ongoing support of AIRA, its Board of Directors, and the activities of the AIRA committees and workgroups.
The 2006 AIRA PROW Center of Excellence Award was presented to the Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry (HHCIR) for employing the PROW Standards of Excellence (a set of best practice strategies for supporting the goals of their immunization program) to overcome the challenges faced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The impact was enormous in the number of children able to enter school, the money saved by not administering unnecessary vaccinations (estimated to be over $1.5 million), the ease with which healthcare workers statewide were able to access this vital immunization data, and the increased confidence in public health from families and providers.
And last, but certainly not least, the AIRA Outgoing President Award was presented to Bill Brand, AIRA President from 2003 through 2005, years of incredible growth and accomplishment for AIRA. He will continue to serve AIRA and its members as Past President. Bill is currently the Deputy Director, Center for Health Informatics, Minnesota Department of Health.