 |
| Photo by Sean Rhaesa |
The hospital, according to officials, has been closed and all patients either discharged or transferred to another facility. A Beaumont spokesman said last week that some staff members were transferred to other hospitals while others have been laid off.
The hospital issued a formal statement denying the widespread rumors that the hospital has been permanently closed.
Services at both the emergency and obstetrics departments at Beaumont Wayne were terminated March 26 by hospital management and the facility dedicated to the exclusive treatment of COVID-19 patients. Should there be another surge in coronavirus infections, a Beaumont spokesman said, the facility could be reopened for those patients.
The rumors of the permanent closing of the Wayne hospital reached both Rashida Tlaib and Debbie Dingell, members of Congress from the 12th and 13th districts respectively. The Congress members sent a letter to John Fox, president of Beaumont Health, demanding the reopening of the Wayne facility.
“We cannot overstate how important Beaumont Wayne Hospital is to the community it serves. In 2018 alone, this hospital received over 61,000 emergency room visits and brought nearly 1,000 new-born babies into the world. Countless lives have been saved by the care provided by Beaumont's talented and dedicated staff,” the congress members said in the letter.
They chastised the decision of Beaumont to take the 185 beds at Beaumont Wayne out of service and called the decision “irresponsible” and “a threat to the very health and safety of the community you claim to serve.”
“Beaumont Hospital, Wayne is important to Beaumont Health and is not permanently closing. Rumors to that effect are false,” the hospital said in a prepared statement.
“We are still operating under several executive orders that severely restrict the extent and type of care we can provide to our community. Until these executive orders are lifted and the disaster declaration has ended, we are not changing the COVID-19 only status of the Wayne hospital.
Employees at the hospital have also alleged to news media that Beaumont has been hoarding much needed personal protection equipment (PPE) at a warehouse. One employee told WXYZ Channel 7 that there were “pallets and pallets of medical supplies” in the warehouse.
Beaumont Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Wilson said the warehouse is used to supply other Beaumont facilities with the protection gear which has been in short supply across the country.
“We're moving supplies in and out, and its with gratitude that our supply chain has been able to get those supplies to keep our staff safe. We're not hoarding anything -- we're using supplies,” Wilson said.
Employees also questioned the failure of Beaumont to offer the use of temporary morgue facilities constructed in the warehouse to other hospitals.
“It is in use for Beaumont as an overflow temporary morgue. We are not licensed as a morgue, we're not able to offer that service to others,” Wilson said.
Wilson said Beaumont will remain on “standby” in preparation for a second surge of the coronavirus but will be reopened. “We're carefully watching that second curve but we are getting more and more comfortable that we will be reopening Wayne as an acute care hospital in the near future,” Wilson said.
In a prepared statement, Beaumont suggested that patients who would normally seek emergency or trauma treatment including heart attacks, strokes, seizures or other serious injuries use the freestanding emergency center in Canton Township which is “open 24/7 to care for non-COVID-19-related medical emergencies.” That facility is located at 7300 North Canton.
Dingell and Tlaib wrote to Fox again last Friday and expressed “deep concerns” they have heard from staff and community members that the closure of Beaumont Wayne would have a negative impact on the region.
“We write to follow up on our letter dated April 14, 2020 regarding the closure of Beaumont Wayne Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote Dingell and Tlaib. “Since that time, we have heard from numerous employees, families of patients, local elected officials, and other critical stakeholders expressing concerns about this decision and the impact it will have on communities.”
The lawmakers followed up with a number of questions in an attempt to understand the Beaumont business plan for a number of hospitals. The lawmakers cited concerns that Beaumont is targeting union members for layoffs and elimination of those jobs.
The lawmakers asked if Beaumont employees were entitled to hazardous duty pay as well as other questions about the financial stability of Beaumont, Michigan's largest health care system.
