KCATA teams with local hospital to provide transportation for COVID-19 vaccinations

Target Audience: The target audience for this entry was the general public to establish and promote how KCATA weaves itself into the community even during challenging times.

Strategy Objective:KCATA wanted to stress the importance of having transit options available for people who needed them most during the pandemic. Vaccines were becoming available and a major barrier for the residents was transportation. KCATA wanted to take away that barrier and make sure people had access to available vaccines. The CEO of the hospital, the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri and KCATA's CEO all spoke at the press conference to highlight the partnership.

Situation Challenge: Senior citizens of the Housing Authority of Kansas City (HAKC) were signing up for vaccines when the COVID-19 vaccines were first distributed; however, when registering for the shots they often reported they didn't have transportation to get to the vaccination site. Truman Medical Centers/University Health (TMC/UH) reached out to KCATA for assistance. KCATA quickly came up with a plan to get the residents from their apartment complex to the hospital and home. We coordinated bus transportation for the seniors to get their COVID-19 vaccine.

Results Impact: There was more public awareness of transit's role in the pandemic. The event highlighted KCATA's role in getting people to healthcare, jobs, housing and education even during the pandemic. After this event, other government agencies and organizations called on KCATA. The governor of Missouri asked KCATA to provide transportation options to a mass vaccination at Arrowhead stadium. The governor touted transit's impact on getting people to testing facilities and vaccination sites. We were also asked to partner with Children's Mercy Hospital to help get children to the vaccination sites when the vaccine became available for 5 to 12-year olds.

Why Submit: This should win an AdWheel award because it shows how KCATA weaved itself in the fabric of the community to help our most vulnerable populations get to valuable healthcare services during the pandemic. This partnership garnered a large amount of earned media and social media engagements and led to more transit related partnerships during the pandemic.