MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — Muskegon County residents are calling for care, starting a petition to demand a new hospital be built in their county. It's a petition that, as of Sunday evening, had gathered more than 350 signatures in less than a week.
Some residents online, including the petition's anonymous sponsor, said they don't take issue with the care received from the County's one major hospital, but that more are needed to keep up with the needs of the community.
Living in Muskegon, Danyal Arleen is one of those standing behind the petition.
"We need more options, we need more choices," Arleen said. "We deserve more options and more choices. They were taken away from us without giving us a choice."
She said she remembers what it was like when Muskegon was home to multiple hospitals, and wants to see a return to what she considers a vital variety.
"If there was a problem and you knew what the problem was, you knew what hospital to go to," Arleen said.
"It was, you know, you weren't all stuck in one spot," Arleen said. "And now, you walk in and you're literally from an infant to an elder to a shooting to a car accident, like everybody is stuck in one spot."
More competition, Arleen said, would encourage providers to keep high standards of care and retain a robust local workforce in healthcare.
But after the closure of Muskegon General Hospital and Hackley Hospital, Trinity Health Muskegon remains the only major hospital.
"The doctors, nurses and all staff of Trinity Health Muskegon are working hard to ensure the best possible patient experience for everyone who comes to us for care," Trinity Health Muskegon said in a statement regarding the petition. "Like most health systems across the state and country, we are challenged with a high volume of patients requiring longer stays in the hospital, coupled with staff shortages that are impacting timely access. We continue to work through these realities to maintain safe and high-quality care and ensure the best possible patient experience for those who come to us for care."
Arleen saying having another option is not just a boost for the community.. it's a necessity.
"We lose, the people in this town lose by only having one facility," Arleen said. "[If] there's a shooting and the hospital gets locked down, what happens to the people that really need to be seen?"
"My kids take their kids all the way to Grand Rapids, because why bring them to Muskegon they're not going to get seen?" Arleen said. "It's not an emergency. It's not. It is an emergency, sometimes. We need choices."
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