Over capacity treating influx of COVID-19 patients, 37 additional beds granted by state. It reached out to the state for assistance.
As of Wednesday morning, Mercy Health Muskegon reached 101% capacity. That’s 274 patients. It turned to the State of Michigan for an Emergency Certificate of Need adding additional beds.
“Which we have submitted and received from the state of Michigan.”
Dr. Justin Grill is Chief Medical Officer. He tells us 37 beds will be strategically deployed.
“To utilize a few dozen alternative sites of care for patients within the four walls of our hospital. That just helps us have locations to place patients that we know we have to care for.”
Those additional beds need to be staffed.
“With nurses, with doctors, with techs, with janitors, with repository therapists, everybody who is part of the care team and you have to judiciously expand where you can put patients based on what staffing you are able to provide for them.”
And every hospital in the state of Michigan is competing for staffing assistance. Retaining its full-time nurses Mercy Health Muskegon is paying incentive rates and hiring traveling nurses. It was one of a number of Michigan hospitals recently submitting an application for staffing assistance through the federal government. Only two were selected; Grand Rapids’ Spectrum Health and Dearborn’s Beaumont Hospital.
Dr. Grill is hopeful other federal teams will become available.