Some mid-Michigan hospitals are struggling to keep up with the most critically ill patients as a new COVID-19 surge drives up infections in the state.
According to a state department database, the number of available intensive care unit beds in the region are in the single digits.
Jay De Los Reyes, the chief operating officer at McLaren Greater Lansing, said patients hospitalized with COVID have doubled in the last few weeks but they don’t make up the majority of those in the ICU.
“I'd say, even with the increase in the last few weeks, there's not this similar type of extremely high percentage of patients who are needing to be on ventilators or in the ICU as COVID-positive," De Los Reyes said.
The high numbers are also being driven by non-COVID patients who are finally seeking care after delaying it during the height of the pandemic.
“We're still in a place where we're just encouraging everyone to seek care, and we're, we still have capacity to take care of patients, because the numbers are always fluctuating," he added.
As of Friday, nearly 300 people are hospitalized in Mid Michigan with COVID-19.
