DETROIT (WXYZ) — In a press conference today, Henry Ford Health System says it's eliminating 7% or 120 hospital beds from its five hospitals in Detroit and Jackson.
Most of the beds eliminated, Dr. Adnan Munkarah says, were general medicine beds but also ICU beds were on the chopping block.
And with signs of a fourth surge coming, he says it's a major blow to the hospital system as hospitalizations continue to rise because of the COVID-19 delta variant.
"We are flexing our bed capacity to maintain our full spectrum of services across our healthcare system. We also urge patients not to delay a critical medical situation," says Chief Clinical Officer with Henry Ford Health System Dr. Adnan Munkarah
Hospitalizations are up 15% from COVID-19 in the last two weeks at Henry Ford. 129 patients are hospitalized across their five hospitals.
79% of the COVID-19 cases are of the unvaccinated. 11% of those cases are in between the first and second dose, and 10% are of those who are fully vaccinated.
And due to the newest COVID-19 rise in cases, the hospital is at 95 percent capacity for COVID and non-COVID-related cases.
Dr. Munkarah says it is also putting a strain on the er and wait times, "Emergency departments have been very, very busy as well as our hospitals."
Over at the University of Michigan Health System, they're also taking 13 beds offline until the end of this week, citing staffing shortages.
A Vivian Healthcare study released in April of this year shows that nurses are leaving or have considered leaving the field because of a decline in morale, increased stress, and pay.
Beaumont Health System has also faced challenges with staffing.
Beaumont Health Chief Nursing Officer Susan Grant says, "We have adjusted services/bed capacity at times when we have had staffing challenges. We assess staffing and patient demand regularly and respond accordingly to safely care for our patients. We have closed up to 130 inpatient beds at various times recently due to staffing."
