ANN ARBOR, MI — Michigan Medicine is rescheduling some surgeries as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise at the health system and across the state.
“Due to rising occupancy and forecasts for continued high demand for emergency care and admissions, Michigan Medicine has had to make the difficult decision to reschedule a small number of scheduled surgeries late this week and next week in order to maintain safe occupancy levels,” Mary Masson, Michigan Medicine director of public relations, said on Thursday, April 8.
“We are constantly monitoring the evolving situation and will make further adjustments to ensure scheduling aligns with our staffing and hospital room availability with safety of our patients and staff always remaining our highest priority.”
As of April 5, 80% of beds at Michigan Medicine are occupied, according to state data. Michigan Medicine has 77 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 17 patients in intensive care units with COVID-19, state data shows.
Justin Dimick, a professor and chairman of Michigan Medicine’s Department of Surgery, tweeted about the surgeries being rescheduled and said, “We need some help,” tagging the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser for COVID-19 response.
Michigan leads all other states in its rate of utilized hospital and ICU beds for COVID-19 patients at 11.9% -- an increase of 203% since Feb. 28.
Michigan ranks highest in COVID-19 hospitalizations amid surge as model predicts further worsening
Recent estimates from Michigan Medicine expect the state could set a new record for hospitalizations as early as April 12. The health system’s latest model projects 4,522 hospitalized Michiganders by next week.
Michigan Medicine recently implemented visitor restrictions due to rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations with visitors only being allowed for adult patients when medically necessary.
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