ALPENA Northern Michigan Opioid Response Consortium has been chosen to receive the 2023 Hometown Health Hero award by the Michigan Public Health Week Partne
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News Photo by Crystal Nelson
District Health Department No. 4 Health Officer Denise Bryan talks to county commissioners on the health board Tuesday at St. John Lutheran Church off of County Road 441 in Rogers City.
ALPENA The District Health Department No. 4 Health Board on Tuesday agreed to hire more temporary employees to help offset the workload Health Department employees are experiencing because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Officer Denise Bryan told the board the Health Department received $432,000 from the state, which can be used on COVID-19-related expenses through Sept. 30.
Bryan recommended the funding be used to retain its temporary contact tracers and hire up to three part-time clerical employees, a North emergency management supervisor and an information technology supervisor, also on a temporary basis.
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Courtesy Image
An illustration of the coronavirus provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
ALPENA District Health Department No. 4 officials said they will no longer report the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 on the Health Department’s website after Presque Isle County commissioners questioned the accuracy of the data.
During the department’s board meeting today, Presque Isle County Commissioner Carl Altman inquired about the recovery numbers and asked who determines whether a person is considered recovered.
Health Officer Denise Bryan said state health officials pivoted away from tracking recovery data when they started reporting on vaccine doses administered.
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News Photo by Crystal Nelson
Presque Isle County Commissioner Lee Gapczynski, left, and Presque Isle County Emergency Manager Sarah Melching on Tuesday talk about problems county officials and their constituents have had reaching District Health Department No. 4 officials.
ALPENA District Health Department No. 4 Health Officer Denise Bryan told her board on Tuesday she has advocated strongly on behalf of Northeast Michiganders so the region can receive its share of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Bryan told the county commissioners from Alpena, Montmorency, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan counties that make up her board about many challenges she has encountered trying to secure vaccines from the state and setting up mass vaccination clinics for the public.