BOB RINEY

Hospitals in the Detroit area were seeing some hopeful signs this week as the number of COVID-19 patients, though still high, decreased. Cases in southeast Michigan have plateaued while they are increasing in other regions of the state, according to a weekly state report and recent Michigan data. As of Friday, the regions, the most populous in Michigan, had 2,377 total patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. In December, there were more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients in intensive care. Michigan hospitals have not tracked and reported this information.

Here are tonight's top stories.

For the first time since the start of the COVID omicron surge in Michigan, hospital officials with the Henry Ford Health System said they’re starting to see some signs of early progress.

Henry Ford Hospital officials spoke Thursday about COVID in Michigan, providing an update on the rapid spread of omicron and revealing that there are both hundreds of patients hospitalized and hundreds of employees out due to the virus.

Officials from Henry Ford Health System provided an update Wednesday on the state of COVID in Michigan, saying the current situation is a “crisis” and worse than a year ago.

Michigan's record-high number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients dipped Wednesday, the first drop in 49 days as health leaders continued to urge vaccinations while describing a dire situation inside hospitals.

Michigan’s record-high number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has dipped, the first drop in 49 days as health leaders continue to urge vaccinations while describing a dire situation inside hospitals.

Officials from Henry Ford Health System provided an update Wednesday on the state of COVID in Michigan, saying the current situation is a “crisis” and worse than a year ago.

Soaring COVID-19 hospitalization rates combined with the emergence of the omicron variant and the resurgence of the flu could force Michigan hospitals to further cut...

Hospitals in Michigan and Minnesota are reporting a wave of COVID-19 patients not seen in months.

Midwest hospitals in Michigan and Minnesota are experiencing a new surge of COVID cases.

Watch Flashpoint every Sunday at 10 a.m. on Local 4 News.

Approximately 99% of Henry Ford Health System’s employees have gotten vaccinated against COVID-19 or been approved for a medical/religious exemption, the company announced Tuesday, Oct. 5. Bob Riney, president of healthcare operations for the hospital system, said more than 30,000 employees have been vaccinated and continue to work for the health system. “We wish it was zero but it’s a very small percentage.”The health system said all exemption applications were reviewed by an “objective, multi-disciplinary” group. Henry Ford was the first health system in the state to announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its employees. By mid-September, eight of the state’s major hospital systems had adopted some type of vaccine mandate, while four systems were only strongly encouraging their employees to get vaccinated.

Here are this morning's top stories.

As of Monday, 98% of all Henry Ford Health System employees were compliant with the system's COVID vaccine mandate.

As of Monday, 98% of all Henry Ford Health System employees were compliant with the system's COVID vaccine mandate.

About 70% of the 33,000 hospital employees at Henry Ford Health System have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Last weekend, hundreds of people protested the vaccine policy outside the system’s various hospitals, according to a report from The Detroit Free Press. Under Henry Ford’s vaccine policy, employees will need to get both shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or a single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, before Sept. 10. As of Thursday, July 22, Sparrow had about 71% of its employees vaccinated. Vaccines are widely available in Michigan and health officials standby their safety and effectiveness at preventing serious illness from coronavirus.

Although official expect some push back the HFH employees we spoke with agrees with the hospital system requiring employees to be vaccinated.

Employees and volunteers who work for Henry Ford Health System will need to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Sept. 10 or face termination, the organization’s chief operating officer said Tuesday. “Vaccination will be a condition of employment in the same way that we have with the annual flu shot,” Bob Riney, Henry Ford’s president of healthcare operations and chief operating officer, said at a press briefing. “It has to be something where you’ve demonstrated (an objection) to other types of vaccines,” Cunningham said. “So we’re following the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other professional medical societies that say it’s really best to get the vaccine,” Cunningham said. Earlier this month a federal judge in Texas dismissed a lawsuit filed against Houston Methodist Hospital by employees who challenged its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Watch Flashpoint every Sunday at 10 a.m. on Local 4 News.

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings paid tribute to Marlowe Stoudamire, a Detroit community leader who died of COVID-19 last year. He passed away from complications of COVID-19 in March 2020. pic.twitter.com/ECGEnErws2 — NHL on NBC Sports (@NHLonNBCSports) January 18, 2021Stoudamire died in March 2020, early on in the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan. “An amazing man, husband, friend and one of the best dads that I have ever met lost his life to COVID-19 today,” said Bob Riney, the president of Healthcare Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Henry Ford Health System said in March. “Marlowe was a devoted Detroit advocate who would light up any room with his ideas and strategic thinking. We will continue the fight of this terrible pandemic in his honor.”Riney was a mentor and close friend of Stoudamire.

Some county health departments are canceling COVID-19 vaccine appointments due to a supply shortage. Henry Ford Hospital leaders addressed the vaccine and the magnitude of this project. Henry Ford alone will deliver more than 1 million individual doses of this two-dose vaccine. Which means making 7 million vaccination appointments over the next several months,” said Bob Riney, president of Healthcare Operations and COO with Henry Ford. We’re cancelling the one we’ve got coming up on Tuesday (Jan. 19).”Washtenaw County Health Department said the appointments they had to cancel next week will be rescheduled.

DETROIT – One of the many heartbreaking aspects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is that patients battling the virus are forced to do so without their loved ones by their side. Click here to support a Karmanos Cancer Institute patientHow COVID-19 SpreadsPerson-to-person spreadThe virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person. How easily the virus spreadsHow easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (spread easily), like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Prevention & TreatmentThere is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Marlowe Stoudamire, a Detroit community leader and entrepreneur, died of the coronavirus on Tuesday, officials say. Marlowe was a devoted Detroit advocate who would light up any room with his ideas and strategic thinking. On Wednesday, he says he started feeling "an excruciating pain all over my body, crippling pain, that I couldnt even roll over in bed," he told WDIV . He says he is recovering.I just thank God that Im going to be OK, he told the station. I send a prayer to people who are really battling this, to those who lost loved ones because this is a nasty, nasty virus.So far, 24 people in Michigan have died from the coronavirus.

Three Michigan residents who tested positive for the coronavirus died Wednesday.They are the first coronavirus-related deaths reported in Michigan.Beaumont Hospital reported the death of a man in his 50s who had underlying health issues. A woman in her 50s who also had underlying health issues died at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac. But with a testing shortage, the total number of coronavirus cases is likely much higher because most sick people are not getting tested. Henry Ford Hospital and Beaumont Health also began testing this week.Whitmer and other governors have blamed the testing shortage on the Trump administration for failing to provide an adequate number of supplies. Every reader contribution is valuable and so appreciated, and goes directly to support our coverage of critical issues and neighborhood culture.