Livonia's St. Mary Mercy hospital preps for COVID-19 pandemic's possible second wave

Once upon a time, St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia had the most coronavirus patients in all of Trinity Health, its parent company. It was one of the busiest hospitals in southeast Michigan. 

At the hospital's peak, about 200 coronavirus patients were admitted. 

Like most people, the hospital felt a little taken off guard by the coronavirus. But as the weather cools down and the hospital prepares for the pandemic's possible second wave, staff feel ready this time. 

“This time around, we think we know better how to prevent it," said Dr. Matthew Griffin, the hospital's chief medical officer. "It’s always a challenge getting people to wear a mask and do those things. But if they do it, we can control the virus."

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Caring for an aging community

Located at the corner of 5 Mile and Levan, staff at St. Mary Mercy know they're serving an aging community. With about 40% of the city's population being over the age of 55, the city had an exceptionally high fatality rate in the pandemic's beginning months. 

“The mortality rate with COVID in advanced age, which usually brings comorbidities, is real," Griffin said. "It’s true here in Livonia and it’s true across the country … It is one of the hardest and saddest parts about it.”

Griffin said as the fall gets closer, the hospital is working with Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan and nearby retirement and long-term car facilities to make sure the city is prepared. 

In the event the hospital sees another wave of life-threatening coronavirus cases, administrators are trying to look out for staff, too. 

“A lot of it’s a PTSD kind of feeling," said Nick Nickolopoulos, the chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care for the hospital. "You stress out. We’re trying to do as much as we can.”

The hospital has continued to do what it calls "resiliency rounding" on staff, giving them access to chaplains and social workers. Nickolopoulos said the emotional and spiritual support is helpful to the staff. 

Few staff got sick with coronavirus during the initial stage, and the hospital hopes to keep it that way. 

“The ICU was one of our most vulnerable places because they’re doing a lot of invasive procedures," said Sarah Gilbert, the hospital's senior vice president of operations. "But I don’t think we had a single nurse that got sick in the ICU. We chalked that up as something we did right.”

Preparing sooner than later

Though St. Mary Mercy never ran out of personal protective equipment, PPE, during the height of the pandemic, administration keeps a careful eye on exactly how much PPE on site at any given time. 

Inside the hospital, the facility is already set up to separate the sick and the healthy. Plexiglas acts as separators around the building, furniture is minimal, everyone wears a mask and each patient is only allowed one visitor per day. 

Furthermore, every single person who walks through the hospital's doors has their temperature taken and asked if they have any coronavirus symptoms. Gilbert said, though it's not common, not every visitor makes it through that checkpoint. 

“If they come in and they have a fever, we do turn them away," she said. 

Inside the building, everyone holds everyone accountable to practice good hygiene and wear their mask properly. The hospital would like to keep offering some of its elective services, like its salon for cancer patients that closed for a time during te

“We own that responsibility of reminding each other," Griffin said. "We’re so used to wearing masks now that it can slip under your nose or you pull it down and just not notice. Our expectation and response is ‘Thank you for reminding me.’”

With an idea of what they might be facing this time, Griffin said they're ready to handle the coronavirus along with the coming flu season and life-threatening events like heart attacks and strokes people suffer all year.

“We’re ready. We know how to do both.”

Contact reporter Shelby Tankersley at stankersle@hometownlife.com or 248-305-0448. Follow her on Twitter @shelby_tankk.