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Jacob Watson, M.P.H. ’15

  Jake Watson, M.P.H. ’15 
   Jacob Watson, M.P.H. ’15

As reported on MSNBC, the City of Detroit had launched a successful COVID-19 testing program, which was making inroads in efforts to curb the spread. Supporting that model at the state level is epidemiologist and New York Medical College alumnus, Jake Watson, M.P.H. ’15. 

Mr. Watson describes Michigan’s COVID-19 testing program and shares lessons learned from the frontline of COVID-19 testing:

How did you get involved with this work?

The State of Michigan set up a general COVID-19 email account to receive and answer questions from its citizens regarding the novel coronavirus. I started my COVID-19 work by helping respond to questions that were sent that COVID-19 inbox, but after a few days on that team I was pulled into a supervisory role for the Michigan COVID-19 Laboratory Emergency Response Network (MiCLERN) hotline. The network was looking for experts who straddled the line between the medical and public health professions. Epidemiologists serve that role well.

Michigan’s MiCLERN hotline has been successfully managing the demand for timely and easy to access COVID-19 testing. How does the hotline work?

MiCLERN is part of the State’s response to the crisis, specifically developed to coordinate scarce resources and increase State laboratory capacity. The MiCLERN hotline was created so that providers could access testing resources as needed. It also ensured that all COVID-19 testing followed the prioritization criteria published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). Medical professionals used the hotline to determine if their patients were eligible for a State-provided COVID-19 test. If the patient was not eligible, per CDC and MDHHS guidelines, they were referred to private labs. This was necessary due to the shortage of testing kits and supplies during the early phases of the COVID-19 response, which required the prioritization of public health resources in order to ensure the best care for immunocompromised/at-risk individuals and access to testing and contract tracing for individuals living in-group homes or working essential jobs. 

Can you describe a day in the life of a MiCLERN COVID-19 testing manager?

As a supervisor on the hotline, I managed a team of approximately 15 hotline workers on each shift.  They received testing requests from medical professionals across the state. The supervisors assisted the workers with answering questions regarding testing approval, how to fill out the various tracking forms MDHHS had put into place and corrected errors in our disease tracking database. We also had to keep track of the updates made to COVID-19 test prioritizations to ensure eligible patients were getting tested. The position was a mix of supervisory duties, data management and public health communications. 

Any interesting lessons learned from your work at the frontline of COVID-19 testing?

The most important lesson I took away from this experience is how crucial it is to have public health professionals that are adaptive and cross-trained. The supervisory team working the hotline did not have specific experience in respiratory illness. However, we were able to speak to medical professionals who were working in high stress environments and calmly explain all the pertinent information they needed to know to care for their patients. I believe, collectively, we were able to effectively communicate public health information to the frontline health workers that needed it. That allowed us to contribute to the successful COVID-19 response in Michigan.