CareFlite Helps Community With COVID-19 Vaccines
Jim Swartz is reminding folks in a special way of the reason behind the name of his organization.
Swartz is CEO of CareFlite and a member of Vistage group. He has an extensive background in the air ambulance industry and aviation operations. With an emphasis on the “Care” part, he is using CareFlite to help administer COVID-19 vaccines in the DFW area.
“We are called CareFlite, helping our community is what we do,” Swartz said. “My motto is ‘What have you done today for someone else when you don’t have to, and you don’t get paid for it?’ Especially during times like this it is vital that we come together to care for our communities.”
CareFlite, a 501(c)3 organization and the oldest joint use air medical program in America (founded in October of 1979) has a drive-through facility based at their facilities at the Grand Prairie Airport. They have the Moderna vaccine. Their team has been working with area religious groups to help connect Careflite with underserved communities.
“Through this program we provide them with registration forms that have all of the necessary information, including the date and time of their appointment,” Swartz explained.
And there is no charge for this method of getting the vaccine.
“Helping the community is who we are. We have a comprehensive task force already in place that has been tracking every interaction between a CareFlite employee (first responders and helicopter crews) and anyone who was positive for COVID-19,” Swartz said.
“It was that task force who brought the idea forward.”
While organizations such as his are helping greatly in the fight against COVID-19, there are still challenges to be conquered, Swartz said.
Vaccinating As Many People As Possible
“CareFlite’s greatest challenge is getting as many people vaccinated as possible. Thankfully, I am not alone,” he said. “We have support, when we think about what some of these solutions could be, we can count on the knowledge and support from places like our Vistage group, which offers tremendous value in terms of business and leadership advice, and our communities, who have been there for us during such a challenging year.”
And speaking of business, Swartz said optimism is rising among local businesses as more folks are getting vaccinated.
“While full recovery may take some time to achieve, in my talks with other local business leaders in my Vistage group, we are seeing more people become more comfortable going out and getting money back into the economy,” he said. “This is also opening more hiring opportunities for our local businesses.
“This has, no doubt, been a tough year on the community and on our local economy.
However, we have seen so many resilient businesses make it through this. Leadership has had to roll up their sleeves and work alongside their employees.
“The really successful CEOs have hard and soft skills. You have to be able to do the job, but you must have empathy for people. You should also have an innate understanding of what it is like at the front lines.”
