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A Letter to Our Communities from Our Providers

Dear Neighbors, Family, Friends, and Patients,

As healthcare providers, we dedicate our lives to the health of our patients and the community as a whole. For the past year, we’ve been devoting all our hearts, souls, and minds to battling this pandemic. Apart from simply wanting to be able to go to a restaurant, work, school, and church like we used to, our constant prayer is that the health of everyone we know and love will be preserved for years to come.

That’s why we’re writing today to encourage you to get your COVID-19 vaccine. If you’ve been on the fence, or you’ve been “waiting to see what happens,” now’s the time to take action before new, worse COVID-19 variants – possibly resistant to vaccination – arrive and spread in the Upper Peninsula. The vaccines are safe – far safer than getting infected – even if you’re young and otherwise healthy. We wouldn’t recommend anything to you we wouldn’t be willing to take ourselves – or to have our children and families get, and since we’re all doing well since getting our shots, we’re encouraging them to get in line for their vaccines right alongside you!

Still not convinced? What about our business community? Our sports teams? Our houses of worship? Our schools? Being vaccinated helps all of them to be able to perform their vital functions in our communities. This pandemic has been as disruptive to our lives, our businesses, our pastimes, our faith, and our education as a war – maybe more so. If we pull together, we can beat this. If we sit on the sidelines, who knows how much longer this will go on or if it will get worse?

You trust us with your health in everything else. Trust us now about the vaccines.

 

Yours in health,

Zach DeYoung, MD and the Physicians, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practitioners of Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center:

Adam Frimodig, DO

Alicia Clark, DDS

Ashley Croasdell, NP-C

Bruce Trusock, MD

Caitlin Koskey, LMSW

Catherine Kroll, DO

Cathy Azzarello, MD

Cindy Blake, NP

Colleen Vallad-Hix, DO

David Kass, MD

Debra Hilling, NP

Douglas McKenzie, MD

Emily Starr, NP-C

Fred Groos, MD

Heather Bennett, NP

Inge Ford, DMD

Janet Del Valle, PMHNP-BC

Jenny Bausano, NP

Jesse Heard, MD

Karen DeYoung, DO

Kathryn Kass, PA-C

Kathryn Kurtz, LMSW

Lisenia Collazo, DMD

Lynn Barry, MD

Melissa Broeders, PA

Melissa Salani, PA-C

Melissa Vertin, PA

Mercedes Maki, PA

Michael Verive, MD

Rajanee Sripaipan, MD, FAAP

Richard Featherly, LLMSW

Sandra Croasdell, NP

Sarah Pettibone, MD

Shayna Orlich, NP-C

Sheryl Parks, MD

Stephanie Bonenfant, PA

Suzanne Miron, NP

Todd Anderson, DO

Tom McConnon, MD

Whitney Brey, PA-C





Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center (UGL) is a Federally Qualified Health Center and is a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Deemed Facility.
UGL receives funding from The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and has Federal Public Health Service deemed status with respect to certain health or health-related claims, including medical malpractice claims for itself and its covered individuals.
This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number H80CS26511 Health Center Cluster, total award amount of $1,839,050 with 89.9 % financed from nongovernmental sources. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.