New DuPage program offers COVID-19 vaccine to homebound residents

On Feb. 7, Naperville paramedics responded to the home of 67-year-old Marsha Slaboch to find her unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse.

Her husband, Randy, watched helplessly as they performed advanced cardiac resuscitation measures, fearing she wasn’t going to make it. But on the way to the hospital, the crew was able to revive Slaboch, who was awake and alert the next day.

“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind they saved her life,” her husband said.

Nearly three months later, Naperville medics returned to the Slaboch household to perform another potentially lifesaving act: administering the COVID-19 vaccine.

Marsha Slaboch, who has multiple sclerosis and is unable to walk, was among the first homebound patients to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot through a new partnership between the DuPage County Health Department and local first responders.

The Naperville and Lisle-Woodridge fire departments have provided 10 home vaccinations since the pilot program launched April 30, said Chris Hoff, the health department’s director of community health resources. Agencies countywide can now join in the effort to ensure any resident who wants a shot is able to get one, regardless of age or ability, he said.

“We know there’s a group that needs special access to the vaccine -- people at home that aren’t able to get out to mass vaccination sites or even out for regular care,” Hoff said. “We’re really excited this is an option.”

About 1,500 people who signed up on the county’s vaccination website indicated they would require an at-home shot, he said. While making their way through that list, county officials found about half the residents already have received the vaccine through other means, such as a home health agency or pharmacy.

But for at-risk individuals like Marsha Slaboch who still needed it, the county’s homebound program is sweet relief.

Though he had been inoculated a couple of months earlier, Randy Slaboch was growing desperate to find a way for his wife to get vaccinated.

The couple had been limiting visitors and requiring masks since the start of the pandemic. But with health care workers in and out of their home, and with Randy still needing to run errands, he constantly feared she would somehow become infected.

“I was afraid I was probably the biggest risk to her,” he said.

Getting around already was difficult for Marsha, who has used a wheelchair for years, Randy said. After medical complications landed her in the hospital multiple times this year, she was put on a ventilator and feeding tube, making leaving the house “near impossible,” he said.

Randy tried to get creative. If he could somehow get her in the car and drive her to a vaccination site, he asked, would a medic be able to administer the shot in their car? But his inquiries were unsuccessful.

Then he received a call from his insurance company asking whether Marsha was having trouble accessing the vaccine. As Randy explained the situation, the insurance representative said, “We’ve got somebody who can take care of that.”

It wasn’t long before Naperville paramedics showed up at the Slabochs’ home, vaccine in hand.

“(Marsha) was ecstatic,” Randy said. “We both were, you know, because I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get it for her.”

It’s no easy task coordinating home vaccinations, which require precision in timing, temperature and transportation, Hoff said. Health department nurses had started making home visits earlier this year before agency leaders decided to expand the effort through the partnership with the DuPage County Fire Chiefs Association, the Region 8 Emergency Medical Service System and local fire departments.

“EMS paramedics are our eyes into the community, and they’ve seen the impact of COVID-19 on those most vulnerable like our homebound population,” Dr. Valerie Phillips, medical director of the EMS program at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, said in a statement. “This partnership is the perfect example of community health care coming together to help people.”

Naperville EMS Division Chief John Sergeant said paramedics were eager to help administer the shot to homebound residents who need it most. Arriving at the Slabochs’ house, watching Marsha’s eyes light up and feeling the couple’s appreciation “made it all worth it,” he said.

“She was so excited to have us there,” Sergeant said. “To have somebody so happy like that right out of the gate made the program worth it in our eyes right away.”

Health department officials are encouraging eligible residents to sign up for the home vaccination program at dupagehealth.org/covid19vaccineregistration.