By Rich Larson, News Director
Northfield Hospital & Clinics announced yesterday that they have now expanded their Covid-19 vaccination program to include people under 65 with
specific health conditions, and targeted essential workers. Vaccinations will also continue for those 65 and older.
NH&C is also encouraging those 16 and older who meet the state’s criteria and live in NH+C’s service area to sign up on their waitlist to receive a vaccination.
Right now, NH&C is prioritizing people 65 and older and members of the Tier 2 priority group which includes those with sickle cell disease, Down Syndrome, or oxygen dependent chronic Lung or Heart Conditions. Tier 2 also includes those in active cancer treatment, those who are immunocompromised due to organ transplants, people with rare conditions or disabilities that put them at higher risk, and some workers in food processing plants.
When enough vaccine is available, NH&C will begin to vaccinate members of Tier 3, which includes Type I and Type II diabetics, cancer patients, pregnant women, those with chronic kidney disease and a number of other conditions.
In what has now become standard operating procedure, NH&C will contact patients as they become eligible via phone call or text message. Allina Clinic will contact patients via phone call or email. Please do not call the clinic for an appointment, as this puts undue stress on the system.
The newly expanded waitlist can be found at northfieldhospital.org. A link to the waitlist page can be found by clicking here.
Motion to again close Water Street temporarily passes
Water Street will once again be closed this spring, summer and fall on the West side of Bridge Square, to provide a more wide-open space for people to gather downtown and keep a safe physical distance from each other.
Last night during the City Council meeting, City Administrator Ben Martig asked the council for some guidance on how to proceed with the area this year, offering three options: replicating the closure, not closing the street, or offering different ideas.
Councilors Brad Ness and Clarice Grabau were quick to ask for a clarification that this would only be the closure of Water Street and not the 4th Street bridge, which was briefly closed last year and then re-opened. After the councilors were re-assured that only the street would be closed, the conversation turned to the portable restrooms that were brought into the area. The general public feedback was that they were “an eyesore,” and not necessary. But Councilor George Zuccolotto made an important point.
“The only public restroom we had was at the Archer House on that lower level. And since that is no more, I think that is something we should think about. Especially with DJJD, and just in general it would be nice to have a restroom open past 6pm when everything closes downtown.”
A motion was made that the street be closed, with the portable restrooms delayed until further study could be made on the availability of public restrooms in the Bridge Square area, and with implementation of the closure to be set at the discretion of city staff.
The motion passed unanimously.
School District waits for summer school funding
With spring nearly upon us, the Northfield School District has begun to make the necessary plans for summer school. Summer school will be
especially important this year due to the number of students who may have fallen behind during periods of distance learning.
Last week, Governor Tim Walz outlined a $150 million Summer Learning Opportunity program that he said would not only help students coming back from the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, but also would help to close the opportunity gaps around the state. Walz’s program joins several other bills designed to provide more funding for what will be a crucial summer for many Minnesota students.
Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said that while the district has been making plans for summer school, they cannot finalize those plans until they know what kind of funding they will receive from the state. Dr. Hillmann said he hopes the legislature will expedite that process.
“We know that there are several bills about funding summer learning opportunities, but it is not helpful if they pass that in June. We need to know that now. So we ask people to make sure that they let their legislators know to get that thing passed. It’s just common sense.”
Hillmann said this is an issue that concerns the entire community and has bi-partisan support. He asked that people reach out to their local state legislators and encourage them to pass a funding bill as soon as possible.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Dr. Matt Hillmann can be heard here
