CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital will be providing nurses to help with this important event, including providing parents with specific information when they arrive.

“Having your children immunized is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of certain diseases in our community and schools,” says Angella Mudd, Registered Nurse and Director of The Birthing Center at CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital. “This is the third year I’ve helped organize this event. Being a nurse and a mother of four, I know how important it is to offer these events free of charge so all children have access. Serving the community is important to all of us at CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital.”

The Care Van Program is an innovative child immunization program where volunteers drive mobile immunization units to provide access to the medically underserved. The program collaborates with local communities to provide free immunizations to Texas children.

Immunization is a way of creating a defense against certain diseases by using small amounts of a killed or weakened microorganism that cause particular disease. Vaccines stimulate the immune system to react as if there were a real infection – it fends off the “infection” and remembers the organism so that it can fight it quickly should it enter the body later.

For more information log on to www.carevan.org.

About CHRISTUS_® St. Catherine Hospital

CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital is a faith-based, Catholic health care facility located in Katy, Texas. CHRISTUS Health, the hospital’s parent company, is a not-for-profit, faith-based organization, and one of the largest Catholic health systems in the country employing more than 25,000 people. Following the values and mission of the founding Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of Houston and San Antonio – to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ – CHRISTUS Health comprises over 40 hospitals and long-term care facilities as well as dozens of other health services in more than 70 communities in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Utah, as well as Monterrey and Saltillo, Mexico. CHRISTUS Health is headquartered in the Greater Dallas Metropolitan Area, with additional offices operating in both San Antonio and Houston to support the health system operations.

About the Care Van Program

One in four children living in Texas goes without the necessary immunizations to lead healthy, happy lives due to a lack of affordability and access to medical care. Yet, immunizing children is one of the most direct, simple and least expensive ways to build healthier futures for medically underserved families in Texas.

Using its fleet of specially customized mobile immunization Care Vans, the Care Van Program is able to complement traditional "brick and mortar" clinics by visiting schools, churches, restaurants, recreational parks, shopping centers, public housing, community events, etc. and conduct

immunization outreach clinics in the communities where these at-risk families live and work. In addition to offering free childhood immunizations, the Care Van Program also offers free health screenings at most of its health education community events. Health screenings include blood pressure checks, body fat and strength tests.

The Care Van program has provided more than 756,000 immunizations to nearly 460,000 children through April 2010. The program is coordinated through the Caring for Children Foundation of Texas, Inc., and with thanks to lead sponsor Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.