The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph County Health Agency is reminding residents of the importance of vaccinations after the Jackson County Health Department reported a possible measles exposure at Henry Ford Allegiance Hospital on March 10.
Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency
In light of new cases of measles being reported in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJCHA) is urging St. Joseph, Hillsdale, and Branch County residents to get vaccinated.
October 22-28 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week and Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ CHA) encourages residents to be informed, and get their home and child(ren) tested. Lead exposure and poisoning is preventable.
The Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ CHA) was recognized by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services with a 2023 Director’s Award to Local Public Health. The agency was one of three departments to receive honors at the annual Michigan Premier Public Health Conference held October 2-4.
If you’re a middle school or high school aged student in Three Rivers, the distance between where you attend school and a place that provides mental health services has never been closer.
The weekly COVID-19 testing and vaccine clinics held on Tuesdays at Glen Oaks Community College will be moved to the foyer of Ken Schuler Court (Gymnasium) beginning with the February 1 clinic.
New hours for the free COVID-19 testing and vaccine clinics at Glen Oaks Community College are Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. through December 14.
Glen Oaks Community College is the newest county site for free weekly COVID-19 tests and vaccinations for students, employees and the community beginning Tuesday, Oct. 19.
The Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ) will recommend universal masking for the upcoming K-12 school year, according to Health Officer Rebecca Burns.
Students at Three Rivers Middle and High Schools will resume full face-to-face instruction this Wednesday, Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) Superintendent Ron Moag said Monday. In a letter to parents, Moag said the move is the result of a change in the rate of recent, new cases of COVID-19 in St. Joseph County. The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ) provides TRCS with updated pandemic statistics on at least a weekly basis, and Moag announced the move upon receiving a BHSJ report Monday.
Members of the Three Rivers Board of Education (BOE) heard 52 comments from the public at its online work session this week. Shortly after the start of Monday evening’s livestreamed evening, BOE Chair Erin Nowak read each previously submitted comment aloud to board members, Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) staff, and the public. All of the comments pertained to a BOE decision in February to again return to the hybrid instructional mode for middle and high school students.
Southwest Michigan has officially administered more vaccinations than its number of COVID-19 cases, a trend in line with the rest of the United States.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners approved a budget amendment Tuesday to set aside $10,000 to fund additional COVID-19 vaccination clinics, should the need arise in the coming weeks and months. The allocation of funds would support Covered Bridge Healthcare in COVID-19 vaccine distributions for first and second round dosing.
Dates for reopening Three Rivers Community Schools buildings to students have changed following a Board of Education meeting Monday. Pre-K through fifth grade students will now begin attending school in person next Tuesday, January 19. Middle and high school students will return to hybrid learning as previously planned on Monday, January 25. However, they will now return to full face-to-face instruction two weeks later, on February 8. Also at Monday’s meeting, new school board members were welcomed, new officers were chosen, and Superintendent Ron Moag provided an update on current capital improvements.
During a special meeting Monday, the Three Rivers Board of Education (BOE) voted to approve a plan to reopen schools to in-person and hybrid instruction on January 25. After discussion that continued from a previous meeting on December 7, BOE members decided not to approve a modification of the Three Rivers Community Schools’ (TRCS) “Return to Learn” (R2L) plan that would have continued all-virtual remote instruction for middle and high school students beyond the start of the next semester.
At a work session Monday evening, members of the Three Rivers Board of Education (BOE) and Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) administrators weighed options for returning to school following the New Year. After some discussion, the BOE tabled any final decisions on the matter pending a review and clarification of further options by administrators. Further discussion will take place at a special meeting next Monday, December 14, scheduled at 6 p.m. for the purpose of reviewing an annual TRCS budget audit.
Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) announced this afternoon that all school buildings will remain closed to in-person instruction into January. In response to a pandemic health order issued earlier this month by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), TRCS began fully conducting instruction for all in-person and hybrid students through online streaming. That closure was scheduled to last through the expiration of the HHS order, which occurs on December 8.
With additional closure orders in place and pandemic case numbers continuing to spread, Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) announced on Wednesday evening that it plans to close additional school buildings later this week. On Sunday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new order that required high schools around the state to close. TRCS subsequently closed the middle and high schools to in-person instruction on Monday, taking all classes to a virtual setting. Elementary schools will now also be subject to closure.