Daily Update: COVID-19 Vaccine, Officer of the Year Podcast, Day in History, and Test Results for December 30
Michigan Department of Corrections sent this bulletin at 12/30/2020 09:44 PM EST
The Michigan Department of Corrections is committed to providing our employees with up-to-date information as it relates to our efforts in dealing with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Kinross Correctional Facility's Health Unit Manager Cindi Jenkins became the first Michigan Department of Corrections employee to receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine today.
HUM Jenkins, who has worked for the department for 30 years, received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine at War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie at 7:45 a.m.
Jenkins said once she learned the vaccine would soon be available to her and her staff, she did her research and consulted her medical provider, but in the end, it was a “no-brainer.”
“I’m a nurse. I believe in science. I believe vaccines save lives,” Jenkins said. “I have full faith in the medical community and science and research.”
Kinross Correctional Facility had the first recorded prisoner case in the department in mid-March, and then went most of the year without any cases until November when an outbreak occurred and about 80 percent of the prisoner population tested positive. There were also 119 employees who tested positive, included half of her healthcare team. Two of those employees are still off work.
“It’s been a rough nine months. We are all tired,” she said. “It feels like it has encompassed your life. It’s all we talk about.”
For Jenkins, she said her decision to take the vaccine, was not just about herself, but about keeping her coworkers, the prisoners and her family safe as well. She said she seen older, sicker individuals pass away from the virus, but also otherwise relatively healthy people.
“You don’t know if you’re going to be that person that this virus takes down. I’ve watched the repercussions. I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “If I can do anything to decrease the time, the work, the death and destruction this virus has done, I’m all in.”
Jenkins said more than a dozen of her healthcare staff at the facility have also signed up for the vaccine and she regularly counsels other employees who ask her for her opinion on whether to take the vaccine. Healthcare employees at a half dozen other facilities also received the vaccine today and more facilities are expected to begin soon as their county health departments receive their allotment of the vaccine.
“This is a great and historic day for our department,” MDOC Director Heidi Washington said. “I look forward to seeing the vaccine be made available widely to our staff and prisoners in the New Year. Today’s first vaccinations are a step toward the end of this pandemic which has taken such a toll on so many.”
Michigan residents seeking more information about the COVID-19 vaccine can visit Michigan.gov/COVIDvaccine.
Per the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services vaccine phase plan, healthcare staff who provide direct care, including QMHPs and behavioral health, are the first MDOC employees eligible to receive the vaccine as they fall under priority 1A3b. The current schedule of facilities offering the vaccine is below. We will update this list as it changes.
All other facility employees will fall under priority 1B. Prisoners fall under Phase 2 of the MDHHS plan.
We encourage correctional facility staff who haven't yet taken the survey but are interested in receiving the vaccine, to do so now, to aide MDHHS and the county health departments in getting the right number of doses for MDOC staff included in the groups above. Take the survey here.
Field Days Podcast: Corrections Officer of the Year 2020
Officer Sims began his career with the MDOC in 1997 at the former Southern Michigan Correctional Facility and currently works at G. Robert Cotton Correctional. He has served as a positive role model for both staff and prisoners. He has worked as a field training officer for new corrections officers at the corrections officer training academy and is trained to support his peers through the Traumatic Incident Stress Management Program.
Officer Sims is also dedicated to serving his community through a variety of organizations and charitable efforts. He is an active member of the LGBTQ community and has attended numerous LGBT Criminal Justice Professionals conferences across the country and abroad.
He regularly participates in and coordinates fundraising events through the Special Olympics Michigan Law Enforcement Torch Run, Shop with a Hero, Harvest Gathering, State Employees Charitable Campaign and Relay For Life, and is a charter member of the Jackson Lions Diabetes Service Club. He is also a U.S. Army veteran, who served in Operation Desert Storm and in Somalia.
Join Chris and Greg, as well as former Field Days host Warden Noah Nagy, to learn more about the incredible work Officer Sims does both for the department and his community. To listen, click here or on the image above.
Adopt-A-Family at RGC/DWH
Throughout 2020, eligible staff members at Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center and Duane Waters Health Center staff donated $1.00 on Fridays to take part in facility casual days. The money collected, which totaled over $1,100, was used to adopt four local families for the holidays. Through the Adopt a Family program, organized through the local elementary school, RGC/DWH was able to provide gifts for 14 children. We join Warden Cargor in thanking the RGC/DWH team for their generosity. Thank you to this year's volunteer shoppers and wrappers, including X-Ray Tech Jamie Cummins, Nurse Practitioner Prima Muzirman, Corrections Program Coordinator Jamie Krzeminski, Departmental Technician Jackie Sharpshair and Registered Nurse Peggy Reimers, and a special shout out to RGC Warden's Secretary Celeste Jankowski (pictured here) who organized the program.
This Day in History
On December 30, 1953, the first color televisions became available for purchase. Both models, the RCA CT-100 and the Admiral C1617A, had 15-inch screens and price tags of over $1,000; the equivalent of well over $9,000 in 2020.
With such high costs, and broadcast companies not yet ready to broadcast in color, neither company expected a lot of sales, but they hoped the public would see that the future of home entertainment wasn't going to be black and white. To help drive that point home, RCA scrambled to show the 1954 New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade in color. They sent television sets to their top dealers in target cities, including Detroit, who organized special event viewing parties.
Statewide Cases
It is important for everyone to remain vigilant and continue to take steps to help break the chain of infection and slow the spread of COVID-19, both while at work and while in the community.
On Dec. 30, there were 228 new positive cases to report. They include:
Saginaw Correctional - 108
St. Louis Correctional - 47
Thumb Correctional - 45
Chippewa Correctional - 22
Cooper Street Correctional - 1
Gus Harrison Correctional - 1
Ionia Correctional - 1
Michigan Reformatory - 1
Oaks Correctional - 1
Richard A. Handlon Correctional - 1
*Results are downloaded each afternoon and are reported after they are added into the medical record following receipt of information from labs.
You can also find a full listing of cumulative testing and total results by facility here.
Prisoner Step Downs and Recoveries
Prisoner Death
We are sad to report the death of a prisoner who had tested positive for COVID-19. The prisoner had originally been housed at Chippewa Correctional Facility.
There have now been 117 prisoners in MDOC custody to pass away from this virus.
Staff Cases
There were 31 positive staff cases to report today. Positive cases include:
Thank you to everyone who has submitted photos, videos, and stories of kindness and appreciation. Please continue to share photos of yourself and your colleagues working hard to keep Michigan safe so we can recognize our incredible MDOC co-workers.Thank you all for the amazing work you do!
If you have photos and stories you'd like to see included in future daily announcements, please send them to Joelle Craddy at craddyj@michigan.gov.
