FLORENCE, AL - Helen Keller Hospital, in Sheffield, spent Thursday vaccinating dozens of students from the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. The effort was driven by the desire to ensure that front-line workers, including nursing students who provide bedside care, are protected against Covid-19.

"UNA is proud to have this relationship with Helen Keller Hospital," said President Dr. Ken Kitts. "And this initiative provides an additional safety measure for students in the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions who spend time in and learning from the professional healthcare providers at Keller."

"The administration at Keller Hospital stepped in to provide this for our students, many of whom come in and out of that facility regularly as part of their nursing education," said Dr. Tera Kirkman, Associate Dean of the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. "Many of our students don't have health insurance, so having this vaccination for them makes a big difference in knowing they're protected against a virus that can have a hefty and expensive toll."

Kirkman worked with Keller hospital administration, particularly hospital President Kyle Buchanan, on this initiative.

"This initiative aligns perfectly with our mission to care for the Shoals. Our partnership with UNA and its nursing students allows for the brightest students to learn and care for the Shoals alongside our team," Buchanan said. "Providing this vaccination to them also allows us to know that those students are functioning in the safest way possible as we work through this pandemic."

The vaccines were administered in the Keller Wellcare Center. The students will receive their second doses in four weeks during their rotations in the hospital.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama,UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/