The CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award is an annual award given jointly by the CDC Foundation and CDC to recognize individuals who make a significant contribution toward improving public health through their work in childhood immunization.
The 2016 Delaware CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award winner is:
Michelle Power, MT
Infection Control Practitioner
Christiana Care Health System
Newark, DE
As an infection prevention practitioner, Ms. Michelle Power brings a unique perspective to childhood immunization. It is her job to stop the spread of viruses and bacteria in hospital settings using a wide range of strategies, including hand hygiene and immunizations. Ms. Power spent two decades as a medical technologist in microbiology and immunology laboratories. During that time, she often worked with many of the germs responsible for causing infectious disease.
These experiences led Ms. Power to become a strong advocate for immunization in her work with the Women’s and Children’s Service Line at the Christiana Care Health System. She created triage screening protocols for front-office staff in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Thanks to her efforts, 100% of NICU nurses are immunized against influenza.
In addition to making sure NICU staff are protected, Ms. Power has helped set up Tdap and influenza immunization stations for parents and other family members. In addition, Ms. Power routinely discusses the importance of childhood vaccines with parents and encourages them to continue protecting their babies through immunization after they leave the hospital.
Ms. Power is a long-standing member of the Immunization Coalition of Delaware and has chaired the coalition since 2013. In this role, she has advocated for universal immunization of children and elimination of non-medical exemptions. She is currently leading exploratory efforts to reduce the impact of non-medical exemptions in Delaware.
For her dedication to ensuring that the smallest babies are protected against vaccine-preventable diseases, Ms. Power is Delaware’s CDC Childhood Immunization Champion.