Kim Sallin, R.N.
Administrator
Osage County Health Department

Moving from the pandemic into the post-pandemic and “new phase” has been hard. We’ve all experienced great challenges over the last few years, and it’s changed many of us. It’s been very difficult at times, but we’ve overcome many obstacles and have managed to press forward. Funding from the Missouri Immunization Coalition, CDC, and other state grants have allowed us to increase services to our community and flourish in this post-pandemic phase. I came on board as a part-time WIC nurse with the Osage County Health Department in 2019. At that time, there were only three full-time employees and myself. I’ve since become the administrator, and we’ve grown so much! We now have five full-time staff and five part-time staff! With the increase in staff, we’ve been able to provide services which have never been offered here before. These include mental health services, lactation services, drug testing, and more! Our county commissioners saw the need for the health department to have a bigger, better space to function and graciously allotted a portion of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funding to build us a brand-new building. We recently moved into our new building and have plans to expand our services even further.

Collaborating with the Missouri Immunization Coalition (MIC) has been extremely beneficial to our practice. MIC is incredibly supportive of public health’s efforts to spread the word about the benefits of vaccinations. COVID-19 media and advertisements created for our department through MIC funding have increased our visibility immensely! Statistics show we’ve had great engagement with our social media campaign. Our message is being more widely seen, which helps create awareness about the importance of vaccines. The advertisements created for us by MIC include pictures of locals from Osage County. Familiar faces really do make a difference in small, rural areas like ours. They attract more attention from the community, and the message is received better. MIC has done amazing work, and we’ve been pleased with their entire team!

We are very grateful to the Missouri Immunization Coalition for their partnership and collaboration!

Kim Sallin, R.N.
Administrator
Osage County Health Department

*Missouri Immunization Coalition cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed by third parties.

Billboard featuring proudly vaccinated Osage County children. 

Bill Voss, an Osage County local, shares his testimony on how he turned vaccine hesitancy into vaccine confidence.  

Static ads distributed on social media platforms targeting Osage County residents.  

Newspaper advertisement promoting Osage County Health Department vaccination clinic.