ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Leadership from the Henry Ford Health System and Beaumont Health have warned the COVID surge is having serious effects on hospital operation and the ability of everyone to get care. On Wednesday, Michigan Medicine added its voice to the growing chorus of concern.
There are staff shortages that didn’t exist before COVID, an absence of any meaningful state-mandated public health requirements -- like the ones we saw at the start of the pandemic -- and an overall attempt by hospital systems to maintain care for non-COVID illnesses. All of that means the current surge is putting a major strain on the healthcare system.
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Dr. Marschall Runge, CEO of Michigan Medicine, said that while the situation is dire -- one fact stands out. The overwhelming majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. None of the patients on ventilators have been vaccinated.
The surge of COVID patients has a devastating downstream effect.
“People have died and will die of non-COVID-19 disease in our area across the state and across the nation because COVID-19 is overrunning hospitals,” Runge said.
The bottom line is that Healthcare systems are at a breaking point. Healthcare providers are doing everything they can -- but they need everyone to take steps to protect themselves from COVID.
Read: Complete Michigan COVID coverage