Benedictine University’s Goodwin Hall has sat empty for a year due to COVID-19, but now it’s being used to fight COVID-19. The university has partnered with Metro Infectious Disease Consultants (MIDC) to vaccinate residents in DuPage County.
“They had access to vaccine, but they did not have space in which they could provide the vaccinations. And we have a college campus that doesn’t have a lot of students on campus right now, because of the pandemic,” said Benedictine University assistant director of athletics, Nate Van Raden. “So it seemed like a pretty good partnership where we could get their staff in our facilities to administer vaccinations.”
Benedictine Clinic – Hours
The vaccine clinics will run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday beginning at 9 a.m. for the remainder of the spring semester. Due to the Easter holiday, the clinic will be open Thursday, April 1, and closed Friday, April 2. Next week it will be closed Monday and open Tuesday. Appointments are required and are available to anyone who meets current DuPage County eligibility
DuPage County is currently in Phase 1b Plus, which includes those 16 and older with underlying conditions or disabilities.
Appointments can be made by emailing vaccine@midcusa.com.
“When you email if you email, your name, birthday, phone number, home address, and then an email address, you can, they’ll have all the information that they need to get you scheduled.”
The clinic expects to vaccinate fifteen hundred to three thousand people every week.
Making A Difference
Right now nearly 18 percent of DuPage County’s population is fully vaccinated, a number that the university is proud to help increase.
“I feel like so much of this pandemic has been bad news, bad news, bad news, and it’s cool now that we are giving people good news and making people smile and making people happy again. It’s, it’s been really really really rewarding,” said Van Raden.
Volunteers Needed
Benedictine is also looking for volunteers to assist with greeting guests, confirming registration, completing forms, and cleaning. Those interested can find more information on the Benedictine University website.
Naperville News 17’s Becky Budds reports.
If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!
