Grand Rapids, Mich.-based DeVos Children's Hospital has filed an emergency request with the state health department to add 48 additional beds as it grapples with a surge of patients sick with respiratory syncytial virus, local news outlets reported Nov. 21.
Last week, Corewell Health, which has dual headquarters in Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich., filed a certificate of need request to add 48 beds at the children's hospital and to designate 117 as intensive care beds, according to a MiBiz report.
"Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, like pediatric hospitals across the country, is surging with children who are sick with RSV. Combined with cold and flu season and COVID-19, we expect the current RSV surge could last for many weeks," the health system said in a statement to MiBiz. "While we hope we will not need all these beds, we want to be prepared to care for children who are ill."
Eighty-seven RSV patients were hospitalized across Corewell Health as of Nov. 21, with 67 at DeVos Children's. Of the 67 patients at the children's hospital, 28 were in ICU beds. In late October, DeVos Children's was among hospitals that reported RSV case increases of 300 percent or more compared to the previous month.
Many Michigan health systems who requested additional bed capacity to handle COVID-19 patients over surges throughout the last two years generally received approval from the state within a few days, according to MiBiz.