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.
Rebecca Burns
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.
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.
After remaining steady at 11 since late summer, the St. Joseph County death count due to the COVID-19 virus now stands at 15. One death occurred the week before last according to comments last week by Rebecca Burns, Health Officer with the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ). Three more deaths were added to BHSJ’s online statistics early this week.
Following a period of several weeks in which daily new cases declined in St. Joseph County, the COVID-19 infection rate climbed again this week with over 30 new cases.
The Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County (CMH) has a staff member on 14-day quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 recently. A source who wished to remain anonymous provided a tip to Watershed Voice, alleging that CMH staff, clients, and others were not notified of the exposure.
There have been 11 confirmed deaths in the county since the start of the pandemic, while the number of new cases per day has dropped since August 25, according to statistics posted on the BHSJ website.
With the end of August just a week away, pandemic infections and deaths continue to climb in St. Joseph County, while Three Rivers saw a hotspot occur at a local healthcare facility in late July and early August.
The Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJCHA) released a report on July 2 providing detailed statistical pandemic information for St. Joseph County, available in a document on its webpage. Watershed Voice looked into the staffing changes, capacity issues, and public pressure that served as a backdrop for the information’s release.
Confirmed and likely cases of COVID-19 are rising rapidly in St. Joseph County, according to the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph County Community Health Agency (BHSJCHA). Health Officer Rebecca Burns, Three Rivers Mayor Tom Lowry, and St. Joseph County Emergency Manager Erin Goff spoke with Watershed Voice about the troubling trend Wednesday.
An adult male became St. Joseph County’s first confirmed death from the coronavirus over the weekend, Health Officer Rebecca Burns of Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJCHA) confirmed Monday.