With hundreds of workers out sick during the latest COVID-19 surge, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System temporarily closed 97 beds as of Jan. 3, the system said.
Fifty-two beds are closed at Henry Ford Hospital; 34 at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital; and 11 at Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson, Mich. Henry Ford said these hospitals account for more than 1,550 of the health system's more than 2,000 beds.
Henry Ford reported Jan. 4 that 686 employees, or about 2 percent of the health system's workforce, tested positive for the coronavirus and were recovering at home. Employees are quarantined for seven days from symptom onset, although the quarantine time could be extended if an individual's symptoms continue, said Henry Ford.
"Our first priority is to make sure we don't infect our patients," Dennis Cunningham, MD, system medical director of infection control and prevention, said during a briefing with reporters Jan. 4.
During the news briefing, the health system also reported that 480 patients had been hospitalized or were waiting to be admitted, including an unvaccinated child under 17. That's a 25 percent increase in the last week.
Overall, new daily COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the U.S. have risen 51 percent in the last two weeks, according to HHS data tracked by The New York Times.