Corewell Health, formerly known as Spectrum Health, is requesting emergency help from the state, to bring additional pediatric hospital beds into Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. The push comes amid a surge of RSV cases in kids.
Like many pediatric hospitals across the country, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is flooded with kids battling Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. It’s highly contagious and can be dangerous, even deadly for infants. According to the CDC, an estimated 58,000-80,000 children under 5 are hospitalized with the infection each year.
To keep up with surging demands, Corewell Health is seeking an emergency Certificate of Need from the State of Michigan, to add 48 beds to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and to designate 117 beds for intensive care. The group says in a statement:
At Corewell Health™, the new name for Spectrum Health, the health and well-being of our patients is of utmost concern. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, like pediatric hospitals across the country, is surging with children who are sick with RSV, respiratory syncytial virus. Combined with cold and flu season and COVID-19, we expect the current RSV surge could last for many weeks. To meet the demands of children who are sick now and could become ill in the coming weeks, we are seeking emergency Certificate of Need approval from the State of Michigan to add 48 beds to the children’s hospital and to designate 117 beds as intensive care beds. While we hope we will not need all these beds, we want to be prepared to care for children who are ill. Our community can rest assured that we are ready to care for children and their families. While we are surging and emergency room wait times may be longer than usual, we are open and able to care for children who need us.
