MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — Muskegon County has six confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and Friday the health department announced the county's first two death.
The health department released limited information about the deaths, one an 81-year-old man and the other a 78-year-old man.
“Our hearts go out to their families during their time of grief,” said Kathy Moore, Muskegon County Health Officer. “It is critical for us to protect each other and take all possible measures of prevention. Please stay home to help slow the spread of this illness.
Friday morning hospital leaders at Mercy Health Muskegon provided an update on the health care providers plan for setting aside beds for an expected surge of COVID-19 patients in the coming days.
At the Mercy campus 80-beds could be used. Those beds are on the hospital's 6th, 10th, and 4th floors.
Beds on the 10th floor could be ready for use starting Monday.
Another 20-beds are available at Mercy Heatlh's Lakeshore hospital in Shelby.
We're in better shape than a lot of communities," Gary Allore, president and CEO of Mercy Health said.
Allore says beds at the Mercy campus that weren't initially intended to go into use until later this fall can be used now if needed.
Mercy Health also occupies the Hackley campus.
Muskegon Community Collage is partnering with Mercy Health and the state to use the college's Health and Wellness Center for hospital overflow if needed.
“Our mission at Muskegon Community College is to build stronger communities and improve lives,” said MCC President Dale K. Nesbary. “In these difficult days, we are thankful that our college can help those on the front lines in mitigating COVID-19’s impact on our community and state.”
The MCC site could support around 50 hospital beds.
"If we get to a point where volume grows to that extent," Allore said.
Mercy Health Muskegon chief medical officer Dr. Justin Grill says the hospital has located an alternative testing location for COVID-19 that is expected to drastically reduce the length of time to get results.
"We now have results coming back in under 24-hours," Grill said. "So that's going to be a significant advantage to our COVID-care teams."
Grill went on to say at this time the hospital is not accepting patients from the east side of the state.
Mercy Health has a set up a testing tent at the Mercy campus it's only for patients referred for testing from a physician.
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