GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On March 10, 2020, the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Michigan. It spawned a yearslong effort to stop the spread, stay-at-home orders, and changed the way many people and businesses went about their lives.
It’s been nearly five years since the COVID-19 pandemic began in West Michigan. During that time, DeVos Place transitioned from a communal gathering space to a community vaccine clinic.
We spoke to Corewell Health about the logistical challenges posed by the pandemic and gathered reflections from the community, as well as people in downtown Grand Rapids enjoying the sunny day.
"It was a pretty crazy time; I was actually just graduating school, so I was right here at Grand Valley, March of 2020," Joel DeVoursney said.
"My daughter didn’t have a graduation,” Asha Brown said.
Five years later, Julie Bulson, director of Business Assurance for Corewell Health, reflects on the experience.
“There was a lot, obviously, in the two and a half years of our response,” Julie Bulson said.
Navigating the placement of patients, staffing and adapting to challenges while working remotely was significant.
"My team was always of the belief that managing an incident within our incident command structure always needed to be done in person to be the most effective," Bulson said. "By being forced into remote work from a COVID perspective, we really found we were just as efficient,” she continued.
She recalls establishing a fully functional vaccine clinic.
“We actually gave over 12,000 vaccines one day while the clinic was open,” Bulson said.
The clinic formed partnerships with Trinity Health and the Kent County Health Department with a focus on accessibility.
“[We were] really making sure that we could spread vaccines out and make them available to folks that might not have cars," Bulson said.
Five years later, memories of the past persist.
“I think it’s really impressive how our technology has allowed us to pivot so quickly and so effectively," Justin Ward said.
“It was a lot of changes. I couldn’t even barely catch the bus. It was a trying time," Asha Brown said.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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