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MDHHS Continues COVID-19 Vaccine Push As Deaths Diminish
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released a weekly list of COVID-19 vaccination clinics as it continues to report a low number of new deaths from the virus.
The state health department reported 1,423 new COVID-19 cases and eight deaths over a three-day period. The average number of cases per day has plateaued, but the number of deaths continue to drop. Over the last three days, Michigan has reported only eight deaths due to COVID, the lowest death numbers since the July 4 holiday last year.
A list of vaccine clinics was released, and the COVID-19 dashboard indicates there are 4,296 sites across Michigan that offer one of the three vaccines.
The state vaccination rate has stagnated between 66% and 67% for months.
The number of vaccines delivered to the state has also decreased as the number of cases has decreased.
Family Doctors Shortage Pegged At 269, Growing
Gone are the days of family doctors making house calls to patients, but a group of family doctors announced that even primary care physicians for many communities across Michigan are becoming a rare sight.
There are 3 million Michiganders in mostly low-income areas without access to a family doctor because of a shortage of 269 primary care physicians, according to The Michigan Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP). Officials said the shortage could grow to 860 by 2030.
“We need help addressing the growing shortage of family physicians to protect the health of Michiganders, prevent significant increases in health care costs and ensure patients can access care from their local physicians.” said Dr. Srikar Reddy, MAFP president and family physician with Ascension Medical Group in South Lyon.
Rural and inner-city areas have limited access to a family doctor because the population is growing, and family doctors are retiring for various reasons.
Becoming a family doctor is at the low end of the pay spectrum for the profession and Dr. Michael Bishop, with Mercy Health St. Mary’s in Grand Rapids, said only 27% of new medical school graduates are going into family medicine.
“When you, as a physician, select your specialty that you go into, that is what you’re going to typically practice for the remainder of your career,” Bishop said.
MAFP officials are calling on the state to invest $31.4 million into the Michigan Doctors (MIDOCs) program and an expansion of the Michigan State Loan Repayment program.
MIDOCs Executive Director Amy Hoge said the program is the only organization in the state of Michigan that is filling the gaps with the rural and urban areas. The program was compared to the 1990s comedy-drama show Northern Exposure.
The program allows graduating medical students to have loans paid off from one of the four participating medical schools and promise to serve as a primary care physician in an underserved area of Michigan.
“We are graduating more medical students in this country than we have residency programs to license them,” Hoge said.
She said the program is funded through matching dollars from the state Medicare and Medicaid funding and either Central Michigan College of Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine or Wayne State School of Medicine.
The number of students depended on the funding each year. She said in 2021 they were able to take 52 residents but averaged about 24 every year.
She said the preliminary state budget would allow for about 24 students to participate.
MAFP officials said the expansion of the loan repayment program was already included in the preliminary budget presented by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“The expansion of both the MIDOCS and Michigan State Loan Repayment Program would go a long way in helping address the growing primary care physician shortage we are facing,” said Dr. David Lick, interim chair of education and professor within the department of family medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.
MDHHS Continues To Vaccinate As New COVID Cases Plateau
Department of Health and Human Services officials will answer questions from people with disabilities and their caregivers about COVID-19 vaccines as the state sees new cases level off.
Recently, MDHHS officials reported 2,770 new cases and 50 new deaths of the virus over a two-day period. The overall number is increasing, but the department said 825 of those reported cases were from two labs that had a backlog and had not reported.
“They discovered them this week when reviewing data and have since submitted them,” an MDHHS official said.
Including the 825 added cases, the weekly average number of cases sits at 811, which puts the state back to where it was in the beginning of March.
On March 25 at 11 a.m., MDHHS officials talked with disabled individuals during a part of their COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall series.
The COVID Vaccine Dashboard reports that 66.5% of all people in Michigan have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
The health department is highlighting Developmental Disability Awareness Month and the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council is hosting other events on their Facebook page.
Youth Health Pros Want $25M For 100 New School-Based Care Centers
Various youth health professionals in Michigan are seeking a $25 million appropriation to establish 100 new school-based health centers that can help students with their medical, behavioral and dental health needs. The goal is to put at least one health center in each Michigan county.
Leading the request to the Legislature for Fiscal Year 2023 was the School Community Health Alliance of Michigan (SCHAM), an organization representing school-based and -linked health centers. The group speaks for more than 100 sites serving 200,000-plus children.
“(It’s) no surprise that the rates of depression, isolation and anxiety have all increased as reported by youth,” said Deb Brinson, SCHAM’s interim executive director. “While the rates are dropping for suicide in Michigan, youth rates are the worst in the nation.”
Brinson spoke at a press conference. She represents Honor Community Health, which operates six school-based health centers in Oakland County.
After the Oxford High School shooting in November 2021 – which resulted in four student deaths – Brinson said numerous Honor Community Health staff members “joined immediately in providing crisis intervention and counseling to students, families and teachers.”
“We have learned that no school is immune from such atrocities and that mental health concerns plague our youth,” Brinson said. “Today, we’re asking for $25 million in the upcoming fiscal year to help establish 100 more centers throughout the state. Currently, there are 150 on the list that desire one of these programs. Our kids are waiting for help.”
She said one in five children – aged three to 17 years-old – had an emotional, mental health or behavioral disorder at some point in their life. Secondly, she said from 2009 to 2019, the number of high school students who reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness skyrocketed by 40%.
Jeff Cook, the director of child and adolescent health at Beaumont Health, said the aforementioned centers are located within or near a school, and are “highly focused on quality.”
“The whole purpose of this is to break down barriers. Many of our students have no means of transportation to get to their doctor’s appointments. A lot of families struggle with taking time off,” Cook said. “Having these additional centers inside these schools will provide an opportunity for these students to receive needed health care services.”
He said the philosophy of the programs is to provide services “inside the school, where students spend the bulk of their time.” He also said data shows that students with access to a school-linked health center perform “much better in the classroom,” especially with care providers immediately accessible to them without the push to miss learning time.
“So often, if students need to receive physical or mental services, and the services aren’t available in the schools, then they’ll miss an entire morning or potentially an entire day of school for that one appointment that may take 45 minutes to an hour,” said Kim Baron, the director of health services at Grand Rapids Public Schools.
Baron said Grand Rapids Public Schools is on track to have 12 therapists. She said that while the district has amazing teachers, it needed more care professionals trained to handle diagnoses and treatments.
“I think one of the unique things about school-based health centers is we’re all connected to different health systems,” Brinson said. “We’re connected to hospitals, we’re connected to local health departments that are connected to (federally qualified health centers). . . and we’re able to pull on that group of social workers to bring them in.”
She said the annual operational cost of one of these centers is $225,000, as they are open year-round and beyond school hours and require a medical assistant, a full-time therapist and either a physician, nurse practitioner or a physician assistant.
Delivery Of COVID-19 Vaccines Drop With Cases In Michigan
The number of COVID-19 vaccines delivered to Michigan dropped in March as the Department of Health and Human Services continued to report a decline in the number of new cases.
MDHHS officials announced 1,365 new cases and 24 new deaths over a recent three-day period, putting the average daily cases at 455, which is the lowest daily average since July.
The number of vaccines being delivered to the state was at an all-time low during the previous daily case decrease, with 47,490 doses being delivered July 10. Those numbers of vaccines being delivered are also being reflected in the current drop, with 54,100 doses ending the week of March 12, according to the vaccine dashboard.
Michigan remains stagnant at 66.4%, as of March 10, in the number of vaccinated people.
The state health department said Michigan is in a recovery phase since a surge of cases in February. Health officials are still recommending people get vaccinated.
DHHS dropped the reporting conditions and masking guidance from schools.
DHHS, LARA Remove Masks, Reporting COVID Cases From School Guidelines
The drop in new COVID-19 cases prompted a change in isolation, quarantine, masking and reporting guidance for schools from Michigan’s health department.
Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services show a daily average of 745 new COVID cases a day in the past seven days, the lowest average since last July. Also, the case fatality rate is at 1.6%, leading the state to suggest that masks be optional and only worn in cases of COVID exposure or symptoms in schools or child-care settings.
“We continue to strongly urge all residents ages 5 and older get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine and to get boosted when eligible as the vaccine continues to be our best defense against the virus,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, MDHHS chief medical executive.
MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel also took down the emergency order from October 2020 that required schools to report confirmed cases of COVID-19 at public schools.
Health department officials said masks are still a good tool to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and people should look at the risk they are taking with the health of their family while not wearing one.
The updated guidance from MDHHS has not changed for health care, nursing homes, prisons and other high-risk areas.
“We are updating our guidance to reflect the fact the state has entered a post-surge, recovery phase,” Bagdasarian said.
The guidelines indicate that people should stay home for five days if they test positive for COVID-19 and wear a mask for five more days. If they cannot or will not, wear a mask they should stay at home for 10 days.
COVID-positive people should notify anyone with whom they have had contact, which means anyone less than six feet away for a combined total of 15 minutes over 24 hours.
Anyone who has been in contact with someone with COVID-19 is recommended to keep a look out for symptoms for 10 days, test at least once, wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days.
The MDHHS said local health departments could still issue orders, depending on what is happening in the area, for schools.