Michigan Hospital System Faces Greater Strain Due to Rise in Patient, Staff COVID Cases

A hospital system in Michigan is facing a greater strain on its ability to treat patients amid a rise in COVID-19 cases among staff members.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Bob Riney, president of healthcare operations at Henry Ford Health System, said that in the past 24 hours "almost 100" staff members were forced to call out sick because they tested positive for COVID. In comparison, the hospital system saw 113 staffers unable to work for the same reason in the last seven days.

"If that trend continues, not only for our health system but for others, we're already dealing with a very depleted workforce, an exhausted workforce," Riney said. "Every person we have to put off on non-clinical care duty, even if they're mildly symptomatic but because they're positive, that puts a greater strain on our ability to keep our health system fully open for all community needs."

Riney also noted that stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the community and Michigan as a whole is "not only important for all the obvious reasons, but it's important for the stability of our health care systems and our team members."

On Tuesday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer warned residents that the Omicron variant has become the dominant coronavirus strain in the U.S. and is likely to spread rapidly in the state.

According to data from the Michigan Department of Health, over a three-day period from Saturday to Monday, the state reported nearly 14,000 new COVID-19 cases. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that 81 percent of in-patient hospital beds in the state are currently occupied, including 18 percent in use by COVID-19 patients.

HHS data also shows that 87 percent of the state's intensive care unit (ICU) beds are currently occupied, with nearly 40 percent being used by coronavirus patients.

At Tuesday's press conference, Dr. John Deledda, the chair of the department of emergency medicine at Henry Ford Health System, said that the COVID-19 surge in the hospital's emergency departments is prompting "an operating condition that is unsustainable."

"If we cannot control the spread of COVID-19 infections in our community and we don't know yet what Omicron is going to bring us, our community's access to safe and high-quality health care is at risk, plain and simple," Deledda said

He continued: "The infrastructure of our health care system, not just here at Henry Ford, but across the state of Michigan is at a tipping point. This is being caused by the onslaught of preventable COVID-19 infections."

Deledda also stressed the need for more COVID-19 vaccinations in the state to help alleviate the rate of infections and the pressure placed on hospital systems across the state.

Governor Whitmer also called for more residents to get the vaccine, as data from the state's department of health shows nearly 63 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated against the novel virus.

"We know it's the unvaccinated population that is most at risk to themselves, to others, to all of us, in terms of being a vector for a mutation," she said on Tuesday. "I know we are seeing people who are vaccinated test positive for COVID...I think our goal would be to not get it in the first place, but the goal is to stay out of the hospital, the goal is to stay alive. Our odds of doing both of those are better if we are vaccinated and boosted."