Metro Detroit Hospitals Brace for COVID-19 Surge
Crain’s Jay Greene says lack of beds and other hospital limitations can be traced to decades of cost-cutting in healthcare systems.
Michigan hospitals are bracing for a surge of patients amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I hate to alarm everybody, but hospitals are not prepared.” — Jay Greene, Crain’s Detroit Business
Just yesterday, 101.9 WDET reported on three to four hour wait times for drive-up testing at Beaumont Health’s Royal Oak location (as seen above).
Some hospitals are considering canceling elective procedures to make room for coronavirus patients, the state has restricted visitors, and hospitals are working on emergency preparedness plans.
But those measures might not be enough. At least one longtime health care reporter says, if the pandemic spreads in Michigan as widely as some estimates suggest it might, hospitals are likely to be overwhelmed.
Listen: Crain’s Detroit Business healthcare reporter Jay Greene talk about how hospitals are preparing for coronavirus.
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Jay Greene is a reporter with Crain’s Detroit Business who has been covering healthcare for 42 years.
“Do we have enough hospital beds? Not really,” he says, noting that hospitals have been working on ways to reduce costs for the last two decades, which has affected their ability to respond to crises like the one we’re seeing today.
“I hate to alarm everybody, but hospitals are not prepared, actually,” he continues.
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