COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic Opens at Fort Leonard Wood Exchange

General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital leaders have partnered with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service to offer a new, convenient location to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

Located inside the post Exchange, the clinic is adjacent to the satellite pharmacy and next to the barber shop and is open 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Col. Aaron Pitney, commander of General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, speaks with Beth Pritchard, Fort Leonard Wood Exchange general manager, June 22 at the opening of the COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the Fort Leonard Wood main PX. (Photo by Chad Ashe, General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital Public Affairs)

“The reason behind having a location here is more accessibility,” said Capt. Kyung Zimmerman, chief of Clinical Operations and project officer for the new clinic. “So if you’re shopping at the PX, getting a haircut or picking up your pharmacy refill, it’s right there. You don’t have to go to the hospital just to get the shot.”

Beth Pritchard, Fort Leonard Wood Exchange general manager, assisted the GLWACH staff in securing and advertising the new location.

“The process was really quite simple,” Pritchard said. “GLWACH contacted the garrison office with a request for space in an AAFES facility. The garrison office contacted us and we very quickly committed to making this happen. The storefront offered for the vaccination clinic was vacant, so it was really a simple decision to repurpose it in support of a joint public health effort.”

Zimmerman said she is very appreciative of the support AAFES has showed, and indicated GLWACH is planning to keep the clinic open until the end of August, depending on the demand and usage of the location.

All service members, Tricare beneficiaries and current Department of Defense employees and contractors may receive the vaccine at the PX.

“It’s just fantastic,” Pritchard said. “The AAFES mission is all about service to our military community and we have continued to serve throughout the pandemic. It really is a privilege to now partner with GLWACH by providing a safe, convenient location for our community to be vaccinated. Every shot makes us all safer and stronger together.”