 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).
 Last week, the Kent County Health Department shared the above photo of Kent Probation Agent Christopher Parham, who also works as an Emergency Medical Technician with the Cedar Springs Fire Department, receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. As a first responder with the fire department, Agent Parham was eligible to receive the vaccine, and said he wanted to share with his friends and family that he is taking it, and encourages others to do the same. We appreciate all Agent Parham does to support his local community; as a well-respected agent, a first responder, and as an advocate for the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Thank you for all you do, Agent Parham.
Agent Parham was eligible to receive the vaccine as a first responder with the Cedar Springs Fire Department. Within the MDOC, and per the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services vaccine phase plan, eligible healthcare employees are also receiving the vaccine in counties across the state as shown in the vaccination schedule below.
Per the MDHHS plan, healthcare staff who provide direct care, including QMHPs and behavioral health, are the MDOC employees currently 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. The survey is available by click here.
Congrats to Newberry Correctional Facility, which has now come off the mandatory COVID testing schedule. This is a huge accomplishment and is a credit to the staff and prisoners there who will no longer have to submit to weekly covid tests.
An emergency public health order by the Department of Health and Human Services requires testing of all staff at any facility that has at least one positive staff or prisoner case. Testing has to continue at that facility until it can go 14 days after the last confirmed positive case. The MDOC took it upon itself to also conduct prisoner testing at any facility where the MDHHS order triggered staff testing.
Since early December, all 29 MDOC facilities have been on the weekly testing schedule, so to begin to see facilities start to come off is a welcome sign of progress.
At Newberry especially, as they have undergone testing every week since mid-August.
In total, since the DHHS order went into effect, the MDOC has conducted nearly 100,000 staff tests. And since the beginning of the pandemic, it has conducted more than 400,000 prisoner tests - more than any state in the country.
Congrats to Warden Bauman and her team on this accomplishment and we look forward to seeing additional facilities come off the testing schedule as well after going two weeks without a positive result.
Sunday's Day in History Trivia question asked, "What year was Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' released?"
The hit song was written and originally recorded by another legend of American music, Otis Redding, and was included on his third studio album Otis Blue in the summer of 1965. But it was two more years before Franklin's version of "Respect" was released; the rearranged and re-imagined version of the song was part of Franklin's 1967 Atlantic Records debut album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. The song was a hit internationally, and transformed Franklin into an international star.
We had a lot of great answers, including from a few people who shared the release date of Redding's original version, but it was Medical Records Examiner Sharyl Chamberlin with Saginaw Correctional Facility who got the correct answer in first. Thank you to everyone who submitted a response.
Congratulations, Sharyl! R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
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 As the number of cases continues to rise, it is important for everyone to remain vigilant and continue to take steps to help break the chain of infection and slow the spread, both while at work and while in the community.
You can find more information at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus
On January 4, there were 216 positive cases to report, including:
Michigan Reformatory - 81
Chippewa Correctional - 73
St. Louis Correctional - 36
Oaks Correctional - 16
Women's Huron Valley - 4
G. Robert Cotton Correctional - 3
Bellamy Creek Correctional - 1
Carson City Correctional - 1
Alger 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.
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