Food producers and processors are having difficulty getting products to grocers. Add labor shortages to the mix and state agriculture officials say the situation is unprecedented.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers a range of health issues in Michigan, including the industry of aging and the issues facing older residents in Michigan, a state that is aging faster than most others. She joined Bridge in 2019 and has led investigations that tracked millions of dollars in opioid settlement money and explored severe worker shortages in health care that threaten lives and the state's economy. She chronicled the shock and grief of Michigan families in COVID’s wake, as well as state policy decisions and the triumphs of medical breakthroughs. Robin previously spent six years covering health at the Detroit Free Press, documenting the battle over, and the eventual passage of, the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She studied communications and political science at Miami University and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lourdes University (Toledo, Ohio). She and her husband raised two wonderful children — but have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets — in southeast Michigan. Reach her at rerb@bridgemi.com.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Henry Ford and Beaumont have Michigan's first same-day coronavirus tests
The new tests are meant to quicken results for those already hospitalized with symptoms, it will not speed up drive-up screening. Henry Ford expects to test up to 1,000 specimens daily in a month.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Long lines, surprise costs irk people seeking coronavirus tests in Michigan
Providers are trying to limit COVID-19 testing to the sickest or most at risk of spreading the infection. But shifting criteria and a lack of available tests are causing confusion, even among some doctors.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan seniors face coronavirus, and the fear of being left alone
For many of Michigan’s elderly, shuttered senior centers, bans on visits at nursing homes and canceled worship services threaten to cut off contact with friends and children.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Empty pews and open parking at one small-town Michigan church
The new coronavirus offers an extraordinary opportunity to build community — safely, at arm’s length — one pastor assured a mostly empty church.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Coronavirus doesn’t kill the party in Michigan. And that has many worried.
From college towns to big cities, Michiganders are crowding into bars despite warnings from health officials. That has some calling for Michigan to adopt stricter limits.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Suspect you have coronavirus in Michigan? Your doc may not want to see you.
Some doctor’s offices are telling patients with flu-like symptoms to stay out of their office to avoid infecting others. And as one man learned, getting tested for coronavirus can be a fool’s errand.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Can I get tested for coronavirus in Michigan and other questions answered
Bridge has reached out to the experts to answer your most pressing questions on how to protect your family and what steps you can take to keep your loved ones safe from the new coronavirus.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
10 new Michigan coronavirus cases as state reacts dramatically to spread
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state’s top medical and school leaders announced the new cases, which brings Michigan’s total to 12. The state also is closing schools for three weeks to slow the illness.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Coronavirus is here. And Michigan’s public health system is underfunded.
Michigan has the lowest rate of public health funding in the Midwest, and local governments may strain to provide other services in the wake of the coronavirus.