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Mercy Health Muskegon gets much needed federal help

Mercy Health Muskgon Hospital
Jeff Veltman
/
Courtesy of Architectural Products
Mercy Health Muskgon Hospital

17-member crew arrives at hospital Thursday as officials say staff exhausted.

Facing staffing shortages and an overcrowded ICU, Mercy Health Muskegon Thursday got some much needed support from the federal government.

Officials at the lakeshore based hospital say, the facility has been packed for weeks with COVID-19 patients, and the 4th surge of coronavirus infections has brought Mercy Health Muskegon to a tipping point; with long wait times in ER, not enough beds for the number of patients but also, not enough doctors and nurses to handle the case load.

And to make matters worse, health officials say the Omicron variant has yet to take off on the lakeshore, but guarantee that it will happen—and happen soon.

On Thursday however, some good news—reinforcements are arrived at Mercy Health Muskegon, with the federal government sending a 17-person medical team to help with an exhausted staff.

“Especially the last five weeks, we’ve just had a constant full house and they’ve been working so hard,” Mercy Health President Gary Allore said.

The 17-person federal team includes a one doctor, registered nurses and other health care workers.

According to the MDHHS, the duration will be for 30 days, initially, but could stretch into more.

The other West Michigan to receive federal help, Spectrum Butterworth, recently received a 30-day extension, as health officials say Michigan is reporting around 13,000 new Covid-19 cases per day as of last week.

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