COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – New leadership for the Community Health Agency Board of Health was put in place during the board’s monthly meeting on Thursday.
Brent Leininger of Hillsdale County was chosen as the new Board Chair while Jared Hoffmaster of St. Joseph County will serve as the Vice Chair.
There has been a long-standing agreement among board members that the Chair and Vice-Chair positions are rotated around each year by the three counties that are served by the agency.
Meanwhile, a disagreement over a proposal to create a Committee of the Whole and to do away with the Finance Committee and the Program, Policy and Appeals Committee led to the proposed revision of the board’s by laws being voted down on a 3-1 vote.
With the two committees still in place, Tom Matthew, Rusty Baker and Leininger will serve on the Program, Policy, and Appeals Committee with Matthew serving as the Chair. Hoffmaster, Jon Houtz, and Steve Lanius will be on the Finance Committee with Hoffmaster serving as the Chair of the committee.
In her report, Health Officer Rebecca Burns said Michigan saw an uptick in flu cases during December but that number is now coming down. She added this does not mean that the flu season is over and they continue to encourage individuals to get the flu vaccine.
As for COVID-19, Burns said a new COVID-19 subvariant XBB.1.5 is the dominant variant nationwide at this time. She said hospitalizations due to COVID infection continue to occur as well as deaths and that most critically ill patients with COVID are unvaccinated.
The COVID bivalent booster is encouraged for everyone 6 months and older which health officials say provides protection against omicron variants and the original COVID-19 strain.
The Community Health Agency carries all approved COVID vaccines and continues to offer vaccine appointment scheduling on their website.
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