JOAN DECLARK, LEFT, a registered nurse at Dickinson County Memorial Hospital, administers the hospital’s first COVID-19 vaccine to Pamela Faccio of Norway, dayshift charge nurse in the Intensive Care Unit. Faccio volunteered to become the first person on staff to receive the vaccine. More than 30 people were vaccinated Dec. 17 for the first priority phase. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Frontline health care workers began receiving COVID-19 vaccines Thursday at Dickinson County Memorial Hospital after a shipment of 975 doses arrived in the morning.

“It was just a great day,” Sue Hadley, director of nursing and a member of the COVID-19 steering committee, said during an afternoon meeting of the hospital board.

The first to receive a vaccine was Pamela Faccio, a dayshift charge nurse in the Intensive Care Unit.

“I miss my family and friends,” Faccio told The Daily News. “We need to do more (as a community) than we are doing now (to control the virus). I think it’s great we got it so quick. What we are doing wasn’t quite enough.”

Among more than 1,900 confirmed cases, there have been 60 COVID-19 deaths in Dickinson County, according to health agencies. Five COVID-19 patients were hospitalized Thursday at Dickinson Memorial, including two in ICU, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reporting site showed.

The first COVID-19 vaccination is drawn up Thursday at Dickinson County Memorial Hospital in Iron Mountain. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photos)

The Pfizer vaccine that Faccio received is administered in two doses, with her second shot scheduled Jan. 7.

Dickinson County Healthcare System has been approved and registered as a COVID-19 vaccine provider site by the Centers for Disease Control and the MDHHS in the state’s “hub-and-spoke” model for distribution. The hospital was chosen as a distribution hub because of its ability to store Pfizer’s vaccine, which requires storage at about minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit. A freezer with a capacity for 90,000 doses was purchased with assistance from the Dickinson County Hospital Foundation.

Vaccines will be administered under MDHHS guidelines in coordination with the Dickinson-Iron District Health Department, Hadley told the hospital board during its Zoom meeting.

The vaccine will be distributed in phases, with an emphasis on both ensuring the continuing functioning of the health care system and essential services in the community and protecting people at increased risk for severe illness. Residents of long-term care facilities are a priority in the first phase.

State health officials have said they aim to begin vaccinating all Michigan residents sometime this spring. They have set a goal of vaccinating 70% of Michiganders 18 years of age or older, about 5.4 million adults, by the end of 2021.

Dickinson County had 14 new confirmed positives and 29 recovered cases Thursday, while Iron County had no new confirmed cases and five residents reclassified as recovered, the Dickinson-Iron District Health Department posted on Facebook.

The DIDHD on Thursday listed Dickinson County at 1,910 confirmed positives and 155 probable cases, with 1,342 recovered, 60 deaths and 663 cases still active. Iron County has had 742 confirmed cases and 45 probables, with 599 recovered, 34 deaths and 154 cases still active, according to the DIDHD.

In other action, the hospital board:

— Released no updated financial report but did authorize equipment purchases carrying a total cost of $3 million to $4 million. The items include a Varian linear accelerator for cancer treatment, and a Siemens CT scanner and MRI unit for diagnostics. Following a malware attack in October, the hospital had losses that remain subject to insurance settlements. DCH also awaits word from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on its application for a $16.9 million Rural Development loan. The hospital is responding to all USDA requests for information and is encouraged by the continued dialogue, said Joe Rizzo, director of public relations and business development.

— Chose Alyssa Hartwig and Paul Bujold from a field of five applicants to fill a pair of four-year trustee slots on the nine-member board. The appointments are subject to the advice and consent of the Dickinson County Board.

— Acknowledged departing trustees David Brisson and Jeff Campbell, with Brisson offering an emotional goodbye. He noted the financial hole DCH faced two years ago when he returned to the board after having served as chairman near the turn of the century. “From 12 days of cash on hand (two years ago) to spending several million dollars today,” he remarked. Campbell, who has served as finance chairman, said it’s been “a roller-coaster ride over the past several years” while expressing confidence in the administration, employees and board. County Commissioner Joe Stevens, a liaison to the hospital board, thanked Brisson and Campbell for their dedicated service. “I wish them the best,” he said.

— Heard CEO Chuck Nelson review accomplishments of the past year, including DCH earning its third consecutive “A grade” in the fall 2020 Leapfrog hospital survey, coming on the heels of being just one of 18 facilities in the nation recognized by Leapfrog as a Top Rural Hospital. Even with the challenges of COVID-19 and the recent “cyber event,” DCH has added providers in heart care, cancer treatment and pediatrics, and entered into a successful partnership with UP Rehab for physical therapy, he said. The hospital also has contracted to add a urologist in February, he said.

— Provided no detailed update on the malware attack discovered Oct. 17, although Nelson noted it took “about four weeks to dig out.” No ransom was paid, officials had reported earlier. Information was only frozen, not removed, and hospital operations continued under a contingency plan using paper records.

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Staff writer Marguerite Lanthier contributed to this story.