GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Federal boots will be on the ground within a day as West Michigan hospitals teeter near capacity amid historic staffing challenges which leave many less able to respond to the increased need.
Spectrum expected a smaller team of six personnel to arrive and begin working inside its Grand Rapids facilities Tuesday morning.
That’s in advance of the larger group, comprised of 22 doctors, registered nurses and respiratory therapists, which was expected to arrive Thursday.
The arrival follows a request earlier in November by the Whitmer administration and the association representing the state’s stable of hospitals to the US Department of Defense for aid.
It’s the first time Spectrum has had any kind of federal footprint within the hospitals themselves.
For context, the system's patient census topped 400 this week for the first time in its history.
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Spectrum Health recorded a 28.8% positivity rate over a recent 24-hour period, yet another new record it never sought to break.
“We entered Monday morning well in excess of 90% occupancy, holding patients in all of our emergency departments, looking for discharges so that we can make room,” Spectrum Health Senior VP Chad Tuttle said Monday via Zoom.
Other West Michigan testing facilities have reported similar positivity rates.
Grand Rapids’ NxGen said it had recorded a rate of 30% and had 370 testing appointments scheduled.
The surge came as health systems prepared to face the newly discovered Omicron variant, which has been detected in Canada, though doctors had yet to diagnose the US’ first case as of Monday evening.
It’s unclear whether the team’s stay in West Michigan would be extended if the need persisted or whether those workers would be rotated out.
An additional team will be deployed to Beaumont Health in Metro Detroit.
The state’s original request for 150 workers was still pending at the time of publication Monday, according to Spectrum, meaning more personnel may be incoming.
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