Monument Health moves COVID-19 vaccination site

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Monument Health is moving its vaccination site to the old Herberger’s location at Rushmore Mall.

With the state rolling into new phases of vaccine distribution, there was a need for a larger space to vaccinate. The new location took about three weeks to set up with Ainsworth-Benning Construction, who helped set up the location, which will open on Monday, February 8.

Insurance verification is not required, and those getting vaccinated must get an appointment before checking in. Once a person has checked in, they must wait in the pre-vaccination area for the vaccinators to bring them back to their respective vaccination area. Once they’ve received their vaccination, they must sit in the post-vaccination area for about 15 minutes.

The added space at the mall will help speed up the process for vaccinators.

“Our goal is to have each vaccinator vaccinate two patients every 15 minutes, so that gets to about 160 patients per hour and we’ll be vaccinating for about 11 hours per day,” said Clayton Christensen, the Senior Director of Ambulatory and Clinic Operations at Monument Health.

Christensen says he expects vaccinators to be able to give about 8,500 shots per week at the new location. There are 20 vaccination sites at the new location. He also says that Monument Health is working on hiring around 80 people to fill temporary vaccinator positions open for retired RN, LPNs, Pharmacists who would like to apply.

There is a waitlist for anyone to sign up. However, those on the list must wait until their respective group or category of vaccination. Christensen says that there are currently 18,000 people on the waitlist.

LOCATION TIMES:

The location will be open on Monday thru Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon.

To make an appointment you can call 605-755-1350 or you can click here to get on the waitlist.