By Rich Larson, News Director
Northfield Hospital & Clinics is receiving high marks for the effectiveness and efficiency of their vaccine program. According to the State of
Minnesota’s Covid-19 website, NH&C has consistently hit 100% of the three-day and seven-day goals set by the state once they have received a supply of vaccine. What’s more, they rank only behind St Luke’s hospital in Duluth for the number of vaccinations they have administered by a local hospital and health care provider.
NH& C president and CEO Steve Underdahl said they see getting as many people vaccinated as they can as their fundamental mission right now. The hospital has accepted as much vaccine as they can get, and he said running smooth and effective vaccination clinics is a top priority and has been from the very beginning.
“As we started with the oldest of our friends and neighbors in the community, it also happened to be –10 degrees outside. So, we worked really hard to make the availability of shots as convenient as we could. We parked their cars and we had a lot of staff that was helpful for folks in their 80’s and 90’s to get in and get their shots.”
Underdahl said as the age thresholds have dropped, the logistics of running a vaccination clinic has gotten easier, which has in turn sped up the process. Still, putting an efficient vaccine clinic together takes a lot of resources and a lot of committed people. He singled out Vice-President and COO Jerry Ehn and the Safety and Emergency Management Director Andy Yurek as two people who have “dedicated their lives to Covid response over the last year.”
Underdahl estimates that NH&C will administer it’s 9,000th vaccine dose this weekend, and they will hit 10,000 by the end of March.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Steve Underdahl can be heard here.
Opioids still a major problem in Rice County
Northfield Police Chief Mark Elliott said that while opioids are not as much in the headlines during the Covid pandemic as they used to be, they remain an epidemic unto themselves and the problems aren’t slowing down.
In fact, Elliott said, Northfield Police have responded to nine overdose calls in the last year, including one which was fatal. He said the county continues to see counterfeit pills, and even heroin, laced with fentanyl, which is causing real problems.
Rice County has been combatting the opioid epidemic though the Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition. Elliott said the coalition includes law enforcement agencies, health care providers and education through the Healthy Community Initiative, which he singled out as having done some very good grant funded work. He said the Mobile Opioid Support Team, or MOST, has been a great resource as well. And he said another important development has been the addition of health care partners who can provide medication assisted treatment.
“That was a big problem in greater Minnesota. We just didn’t have health care providers that had authorization for that level of treatment. And through this program, that’s really stepped up and out health care providers have jumped on board, and we have quite a few now. So now we’re just really trying to get people in touch with those resources.”
Chief Elliott said they are starting to see inroads into the problem, but opioids remain a major issue.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Police Chief Mark Elliott can be heard here.
Dundas Easter Egg hunt off again
And the City of Dundas announced yesterday that, for the second year in a row, the annual Easter Egg Hunt will have to be canceled due to the
ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The Dundas Lions club began the tradition of an Easter Egg hunt in 1972. Last year would have been the 46th annual celebration.
A statement released on the Dundas City website said “The Easter Bunny is looking forward to next year when all his friends, young and old can gather to hunt for eggs safely. If we’re lucky he plans on making a special appearance at the annual Trunk or Treat event in October.”
