(WXYZ) — We're taking a look statewide at the state of Michigan's hospitals and health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic in tonight's 7 UpFront segment.
Joining us to talk about it is the CEO of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Brian Peters.
You can see the full interview tonight in the video player above.
Peters says 4,300 people are currently hospitalized in Michigan for COVID-19 treatment.
"Where this issue was really centered on southeast Michigan during the first surge earlier in the year, currently this is a problem that is confronting hospitals throughout the state of Michigan, in both urban and rural communities," Peters says. "So, it is a real concern."
"We need to look at any and all innovative strategies to be able to ensure that there are appropriate staff capabilities, whether you're in a rural community or an urban community," he says. "We need to have those staff present."
"I will tell you the real challenge is, if you're a hospital in Lansing and you would have an interest in sharing front-line clinical staff with a hospital in Detroit, or somewhere else for that matter, your ability to do that is severely limited by the fact that now you're in the same boat, now you have the same sorts of concerns as you see your beds filling up and you see your staff challenged to be able to be present on the job," Peters says.
"We would really call on the Michigan public at large to really adhere to what we call the big three: social distancing, the masking, the hand hygiene," he says. "If you can follow those protocols as you move into the holiday season later in the month that's going to do wonders for our front-line caregivers and alleviating that second surge."
