MICHIGAN, USA — With fewer patients taking up beds at hospitals around West Michigan, Spectrum Health, Mercy Health and University of Michigan Health-West are now preparing to resume elective and non-elective surgeries.
The hospitals say that for several months they were forced to cancel some surgeries and are now resuming them, but the backlog is expected to take some time.
Currently, all the hospitals say they are working to increase the number of surgeries they are doing each week.
Part of the reason for the decline in hospitalizations is the success of antiviral treatments for COVID, like paxlovid.
"Paxlovid is very effective. And we have patients with very mild symptoms by reading that prescription, getting them on that medication early, it really prevents them from becoming sick," said Dr. Ronald Grifka with University of Michigan Health-West. "So they don't need to get hospitalized. So it really is making a big game changer in the fact that those pills are now much more available is very helpful."
But in order for hospitals to truly catch up, they will need to perform more than 100% of their baseline volumes.
"For most individuals that need a hip or knee done or need some of these other surgeries done, they're not terribly elective for them," said Dr. Andrew Jameson with Mercy Health. "They're pretty debilitating. So we're hoping to get people back on their feet."
"Today we're sitting at 194 inpatients, which is down from a peak of 500. And so that trend feels very good," said Chad Tuttle with Spectrum Health. "The seven-day average positivity today is 12.8%, down from a high of 40% in January, and continuing to fall."
Mercy Health says moving forward, people are encouraged to check in regularly with their primary care doctor so if you do test positive your doctor can help create a care plan for you.
Health leaders continue to encourage Michiganders to receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. To find a vaccine clinic near you, click here.
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