Beaumont Health has temporarily closed its hospital in Wayne, Mich., and is redeploying hospital staff to other Beaumont sites.
The Southfield, Mich.-based health system received approval from the state to designate Beaumont Hospital, Wayne a COVID-19 only hospital to handle a surge of patients that was expected to occur a few weeks ago. Though the surge was more moderate than expected, Beaumont is not changing the COVID-19 only status of the hospital in Wayne.
"This is in preparation for a second surge that could occur after the stay at home restrictions end," Beaumont said. "The pandemic remains very unpredictable."
Beaumont plans to reopen the hospital in Wayne, but a timeline was not provided.
"As the last two weeks have shown, predictive models are estimates and lack the specificity to make accurate decisions, even a month in advance," the health system said. "Beaumont Health is committed to responding to potential ongoing COVID-19 surges by relying upon our Wayne hospital and other resources."
Michigan is one of the states hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. The state had 28,059 confirmed cases as of 7:25 a.m. CDT on April 16.