MI Hospital was forced to send patients out of state for care

Detroit (WXYZ) —Patients are being sent out of state for care. The hospital has canceled some surgery.

This is not what many expected, as it is the first anniversary of the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine in Michigan, but it is our reality.

Last year, more than 6 million Michigans over the age of 5 received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Dennis Cunningham, Medical Director of Henry Ford Health System Infection Control, says it helped our health system and saved lives.

“If we don’t have these vaccines, we’re confident that there will be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of deaths in this country,” Cunningham said.

Still, about 4 million Michigans remain unvaccinated.

According to doctors, vaccines are effective and safe. What they have learned is that vaccine protection weakens after 6 months, leading to more breakthrough cases over time. This has led people to encourage people to get boosters. However, vaccines statistically reduce the severity of symptoms, even in the presence of breakthrough cases.

“Most of the people admitted to the hospital are not vaccinated. We are starting to see a few vaccinated people admitted to the hospital, but they tend to be less severe and are not inoculated. There is a tendency, “said Cunningham.

This is important for current hospitals. Henry Ford Health System and Michigan Medicine have announced that they will cancel some of their scheduled surgery due to lack of resources to care for the number of people infected with COVID-19 and those who have recovered from surgery.

Some hospitals have been forced to send patients out of state for critical care because local hospitals have reached their limits.

Dr. Brad Ulen, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Michigan, said: “I’ve heard from colleagues across the state who are sending patients to other states, Indiana, Ohio, and more than a dozen phone calls to find a place to care for these patients. These are the realities of today. “

Uren and others are concerned that the situation will only get worse as people get together for vacations and potentially spread Omicron variants.

“This affects everyone. Anyone who sees this will have a loved one or will need emergency treatment someday,” Uren said.

Michigan has identified Three cases of Omicron variant.. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services states that it will sequence about 400 samples per week to monitor mutations, based on statistical analysis.

It will take a few days to a week for the results to come back. Cunningham suspects that the community already has a significant number of Omicron cases. Even if Omicron turns out to be causing less serious symptoms, according to Cunningham, its rapid spread can have disastrous consequences.

“Even if the number of patients hospitalized is small, it can exceed the turning point in terms of the number of patients being treated,” Cunningham said.

Doctors say that after every holiday when people get together, the number of cases usually spikes.

Michigan Medicine recommends vaccination, wearing masks, well-ventilated meetings, pre-meeting tests, and staying home in case of illness to ensure as much safety as possible at holiday meetings. I am.

“I think it will get worse in early January because of the holidays, and I know Omicron. The latest variants are more contagious than Delta,” Cunningham said.

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indicate Global Coronavirus Tracker With data from Johns Hopkins University.

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