As the 4th surge continues to push West Michigan hospitals to their limits, healthcare workers are searching for any sign of relief. As more and more people are taking up hospital beds, Monoclonal Antibody Therapy could be the thing to turn the tide.
The FDA has given emergency use authorization for monoclonal antibodies as a treatment for patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, especially people who are immunocompromised.
The thought process is simple - if more and more people are coming to Hospitals and ER's with COVID-19, find a way to treat them elsewhere.
"An hour and a half of a monoclonal antibody infusion is much less impactful than a 4 hour stay on an emergency department," Said Philip Fennema, Director of Operations at Tandem365 "It taxes the system so much less."
Tandem365 brings the treatment to people in their homes or at remote sites, keeping them away from hospitals. So far, they've treated nearly 300 people, but 120 of those treatments were in October and November, a sign of the treatment being used as case numbers surge.
"Its been a wonderful tool," Said Dr. Mark McClelland, a critical care physician with Spectrum Health. "And it’s been really helpful for keeping people out of the hospital and keeping people from getting more seriously sick."
All of the major West Michigan health systems have a form of antibody treatment that serves as a line of defense to treat people without them needing to become hospitalized.
"If they can get this therapy early," Fennema said, "that will prevent them potentially from becoming ill and requiring hospitalization or emergency department use."
Spectrum Health has a mobile unit to serve more rural communities. They've treated 115 patients in Big Rapids, 159 in Ludington and 169 in Greenville, where the unit is currently parked.
At Mercy Health Saint Mary's, they've administered 241 doses of the antibody treatment just halfway through December.
UM Health West uses their Park East Campus as an Infusion center, and since December of 2020 they have administered 1,741 treatments. Recently, however, numbers have skyrocketed, and in November alone they administered 604, 35% of all their treatments.
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