The Healthcare Professional of the Year Award is given annually to a person who works to provide efficient delivery of quality health care.
Healthcare Professional of the Year Recipient:
Rohit Chaurasia, Information Technology Specialist III, CCHCS
To curb the spread of the coronavirus in California’s prisons, CCHCS launched a robust COVID-19 Vaccination Project. Planning for the Vaccination Project began in the months before approval was granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for distribution of any of the three COVID-19 vaccines now in use.
COVID-19 vaccines were a critical tool to reduce illnesses and deaths, therefore CDCR’s vaccination project was considered extremely urgent. Mr. Chaurasia, a certified Project Manager, was selected to lead the project to vaccinate staff and incarcerated people at the 34 adult prisons, five youth correction facilities, and 13 reentry facilities across the state. His selection was due to his exemplary leadership skills and ability to manage complex, large-scale projects. While directing the project, Mr. Chaurasia led the COVID-19 task force; headed the vaccination committee; and created plans for receiving, distributing and administering vaccines. He worked with the Procurement team to contract and on-board an occupational health vendor and worked with labor and HR teams to develop staff vaccination guidelines in compliance with department policies.
Additionally, Mr. Chaurasia worked with Medical and Nursing to develop workflows for vaccine administration and with the Communications team to keep internal and external stakeholders informed.
Efficient rollout of vaccination clinics at 34 correctional institutions, seven correctional care facilities, four regional offices, a central fill pharmacy, and CCHCS headquarters in Elk Grove help speed the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to nearly 100,000 patients and more than 65,000 CDCR and CCHCS employees.
