For immediate releaseApril 23, 2019 For more information:Debbie McCune Davis, TAPI

602-288-7566

debbied@tapi.org

PHOENIX, AZ – Celebrating 27 years of advocating for the health of all Arizonans, The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI) honored 73 individuals, organizations, and initiatives during the 2019 Arizona Big Shots awards dinner at the Phoenix Country Club.

Presenting the awards were A.D. Jacobson, MD, board chair of TAPI; Debbie McCune Davis, executive director of TAPI; Marcy Flanagan, DBA, MA, Pima County Health Department; Dana Goodloe, office chief of the Arizona Department of Health Services’ Immunization Program Office; Gail Hock, DNP, APRN, PHCNS-BC, PHNA-BC, Assistant Professor, Brandman University; and Gretchen Hull, MD, FAAP, president of the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Jim McPherson, a board member of TAPI since the organization’s inception in 1992, served as Master of Ceremonies.

Keynote speaker was Rebecca Maxie, National Strategy Grassroots Manager with the United Nations Foundation, who presented on the topic, “From Local to Global: Giving ALL Children a Shot@Life.”

 

Recipients of 2019 Arizona Big Shots Awards (by category)

Buck Shots:Outstanding communication programs to educate the public and health care providers about immunizations.

  • Arlinda Newcomb (Whiteriver Service Unit-WRSU) and Whiteriver Service Unit’s Pharmacy Vaccination Team

 

Hot Shots:Individuals or organizations that has gone above and beyond the call of duty to give tremendous amounts of time and effort to increase immunization coverage levels.

  • Angel Saiz (Canyonlands Health Care)
  • Keaopua Castillo (Sunlife Center for Children)
  • Maryvale Family Health Center
  • Michelle Parraz, LPN and Melissa Smiddy, LPN (Banner Wilmot General Pediatrics)
  • NAU Campus Health Services

 

Hot Shot Andie Denious, RN Award:This award is presented in memory of Andie Denious, RN who passed away in 2016. Warm, giving, gracious, smart, and classy, Andie held professional positions with the ASU College of Nursing Community Health Services Clinic, ADHS, and TAPI.

  • Laura Stallings, RN and Sherrie Sanchez, RN (MIHS Immunization Team)

 

Hot Shot Innovation Award: in honor of Carole Joyce, a nurse at Mt Park Health Center for many years.  Carole understood the benefits of the registry to keep kids on track, and described herself as a nurse with a syringe in one hand and a mouse in the other.

  • Fernando Cardenas (NOAH Houser Family Care Center)

 

Spot Shots:Outstanding media coverage to educate the public about the value of immunization as a preventive health strategy.

  • Stephanie Innes (The Arizona Republic)

 

Top Shots:Employers that create work environments to support and encourage healthy lifestyles, including full coverage for life saving vaccines.

  • Maricopa Integrated Health System (MIHS)
  • Pinal County Public Health Services District

 

Up Shots:Individuals or organizations new to the immunization effort, but who show a commitment to improving the health and wellness of Arizonans. This award is presented in memory of Andrea Fadok, a young and energetic immunization advocate who died in a car accident in 2000.

  • BMG Immunization Champions Program

 

Daniel T. Cloud Outstanding Practice Award

 

Receiving the Daniel T. Cloud Outstanding Practice Award were healthcare providers that achieved a minimum 90% coverage level of their two-year-old patients (4 DTaP, 3 Polio, 1 MMR, 3 Hib, 3 Hep B, 1 Varicella and 4 PCV) and teen patients (1 Tdap, 1 MCV4 and up to date HPV). A pediatric surgeon by profession, Dr. Cloud served as Chief of Surgery at Arizona Crippled Children’s Hospital and Chief of Staff at Good Samaritan Hospital. In 1981, he was elected to a one-year term as president of the American Medical Association. He served as TAPI’s board chair since its inception in 1993 until his death in 2010.

 

Cloud Honorees for Toddlers (First Time)

  • Adelante Healthcare Central Phoenix
  • Banner Children’s Banner Health Clinic
  • Banner Health Clinic Payson
  • Cibecue Indian Health Center
  • Estrella Pediatrics, P.C.
  • Pediatric Multicare West
  • United Community Health Center (Continental Pediatrics, La Canada, Sahuarita Heights Clinic, and Vail Clinic)

 

Cloud Honorees for Toddlers (Repeat)

  • Adelante Healthcare (Buckeye, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, and Wickenburg)
  • Arizona Elks Pediatric Clinic – BUMG
  • Banner Children’s Multi-Specialty & Primary Care Clinic
  • Banner Health Clinic Payson Pediatrics
  • Cigna Medical Group (Chandler, South Mountain, and Stapley Pediatrics)
  • Desert Shores Pediatrics (Chandler and Gilbert)
  • Hopi Health Care Center
  • La Paz County Health Department
  • Mountain Park Health Center (Baseline, Gateway, Goodyear, Maryvale, and Tempe)
  • Pediatras Arizona
  • Phoenix Children’s Primary Care Gateway – Gilbert
  • Phoenix Indian Medical Center Department of Pediatrics
  • Pinal County Public Health Services District (Apache Junction and Casa Grande)
  • Southwest Pediatrics DBA Arbor Medical Partners
  • Sun Life Center for Children
  • Sunset Community Health Center (North Yuma and Somerton)
  • Winslow Indian Health Care Center
  • Yuma County Public Health Department

 

Cloud Honorees for Teenagers (First Time)

  • Arizona Pediatric Care
  • Banner Children’s Multi-Specialty & Primary Care Clinic
  • Hopi Health Care Center
  • Mesquite Pediatrics
  • MVP Kids Care

 

Cloud Honorees for Teenagers (Repeat)

  • Adelante Healthcare (Gila Bend and Surprise)
  • Cigna Medical Group (C.J. Harris and Phoenix Central)
  • El Rio Community Health Center (Congress, Southeast, and Southwest)
  • El Rio/El Pueblo Health Center
  • MIHS 7th Avenue Family Health Center
  • Nahata‘Dzil Health Center
  • NOAH Heuser Family Medicine

 

Event Sponsors

 

A.D. Jacobson, MD, Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, Arizona Department of Health Services, Banner Medical Group, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Cigna Medical Group, FrameShiftGroup, Maricopa Integrated Health System, Merck, NOAH Heuser Family Medicine, Passport Health, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, and Walgreens.

 

About TAPI

 

The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI) is a non-profit statewide coalition of over 400 members. TAPI was formed in response to the alarming fact that in 1993, only 43% of Arizona’s two-year-olds were fully immunized against preventable childhood diseases like measles, mumps, polio, and whooping cough. Through the efforts of TAPI’s partners in the public and private sectors, immunization coverage rates in Arizona have improved dramatically, with 66.5% of children fully immunized by age two. Unfortunately, the problem never ends. Each year in Arizona almost 90,000 babies are born, and none arrive immunized. For more information, visit www.whyimmunize.org