DETROIT — While hospitalization rates are declining, some Michigan hospitals remain at or near capacity.
"As we approach Christmas, we are happy to have seen COVID hospitalizations continue to flatten and even decline over the last week. While staffing remains a challenge, the current downward trend in cases, hospitalizations and positivity rates are encouraging," the Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA) wrote in an email to the Detroit Free Press.
"We urge people to avoid gathering with multiple households this Christmas and New Year and to continue wearing a mask when in public or in the presence of anyone you don’t live with."
As of Monday, there were 3,143 COVID-19 patients in hospitals including 702 with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit, according to state data compiled by MHA.
The average Michigan hospital has a 56% bed occupancy rate. A state update using Dec. 19 data shows more than 16.5% of available inpatient beds are filled with COVID patients.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHSS) update also states Michigan has the 24th highest hospitalization rate as a percent of total beds.
These total bed occupancy numbers include all patients, not just those with COVID-19. However, patients with or without COVID-19 require the resources and the attention of the hospital staff, and common fear among public health experts are strains on hospital resources. Some areas have nearly full hospitals.
Data provided by the state shows hospitals with high bed occupancy are scattered across the state.
Total bed data is the average of staffed beds over a 7-day period from the Department of Health and Human Services on Dec. 15.
The hospital with the highest total number of COVID-19 patients is Covenant Healthcare in Saginaw at 162. It has 455 beds and is at 91% bed occupancy, according to federal and state data. Covenant Healthcare is the largest acute care hospital in the region. The hospital wrote in an email to the Detroit Free Press the second surge of COVID-19 cases had "well-surpassed" the spring peak for them.
In November and early December, Covenant Healthcare spokeswoman Kristin Knoll said, about half of its hospitalized patients were COVID-19 positive. In the past few weeks, the number has declined.
"As of today, Thursday, December 24, roughly a third of hospitalized patients at Covenant are COVID-19 positive. While this is encouraging news, the surge is not over yet," she said.
Knoll also explained that while hospitalization rates usually rise in the winter, COVID-19 patients often stay in its care twice as long as an average patient.
"That means, in the amount of time we could usually treat and discharge two patients, we are only able to care for and discharge one," she said. "This can create a backlog in the system and is what adds to the capacity and occupancy rates."
Some areas of the state have hospitals that are close to full. Genesee County, where Flint is, has McLaren Flint at 92% bed occupancy and Hurley Medical Center at 96% occupancy.
Saginaw County also has two full hospitals: Ascension St. Mary's Hospital at 97% and Covenant Healthcare at 91%.
Twenty hospitals, many of them larger facilities, are at 90% or above.
Earlier this month, the state government and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressed concern for full hospitals, since it will make transfers from facility to facility more difficult.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have been going down since the beginning of the month, which saw a high of 3,941 on Dec. 1 according to state and Michigan Medicine data.
The state has not yet passed its daily peak of 4,365 COVID-19 hospitalizations on April 8.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan's Chief Medical Executive, touched on these numbers during a Dec. 18 conference.
"While we've made some progress in our metrics and vaccines are here, we still must remain vigilant," she said. "Our cases, deaths and hospitalizations are still higher than we want them to be."
