Butler Memorial Hospital will relocate its COVID-19 vaccination clinic to the former Sears in the Clearview Mall on April 14, according to the hospital.

Moving the clinic from the hospital, where about 1,600 vaccinations are administered daily, to the mall will allow staff to administer more vaccinations.

“This will allow us to provide 3,000 vaccinations per day if we're allocated that many vaccines per day,” said Karen Allen, chief nursing officer.

The Butler County Commissioners last week approved a contract with the mall owner to lease the former Sears site for $12,500 a month for 90 days. The county will seek reimbursement of the rent from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

People who go to the hospital for their first dose of vaccine are scheduled for their second dose before they leave, Allen said.

Beginning March 24, people who get their first shot at the hospital will be scheduled to receive their second shot at the community clinic in the mall, she said.

There is not enough space in the clinic or parking spaces at the hospital to accommodate a larger volume of vaccinations, Allen said.

Relocating the clinic will make parking at the hospital easier and reduce traffic congestion in the parking lot, benefiting people who come to visit patients, she said.

“Bringing 1,600 people onto the hospital campus every day is lot of people in and out every day,” Allen said.

The Butler Health System has applied to the state to become a regional vaccination provider. Allen said the new clinic should have the amount of space and parking spaces to qualify the health system as a regional provider.

The lease begins April 1. Hospital workers will begin cleaning and preparing the site to serve as a clinic at that time, she said.

Additional staff will be needed to operate the clinic.

Allen said retired nurses and pharmacists are helping administer vaccine in the clinic now, but additional help will be needed if the hospital receives more doses of vaccine, Allen said. The hospital will also hire contract workers to help with registration and other paperwork, she said.

The county is providing the new clinic with some tables and chairs, she added.