Wayne hospital to treat only COVID-19 patients

The emergency room at Beaumont Hospital Wayne has been closed as the facility continues to admit COVID-19 patients transferred from other Beaumont facilities.
The move is part of the hospital surge plan and was implemented last week as Beaumont recorded 650 COVID-19 patients already in care with another 200 cases awaiting test results.
Physicians at each of the Beaumont hospitals will choose patients to be transferred to the Wayne facility and those transitions began last week, officials said. In addition to the emergency room, obstetrical services will be moved from Wayne to the Dearborn Beaumont Hospital to make room for the coronavirus patients.
The move to Wayne was the best option in the effort to avoid overcrowding of patients at other Beaumont facilities, officials said. “It's centrally located, for one, for all of our campuses,” said Beaumont COO Carolyn Wilson, in a prepared statement. “Two, they have a lot of expertise in communicable disease being close to the Detroit airport. We've invested even more training and specialty into that campus to care for this type of patient.”

She recommended that patients needing emergency care or treatment for COVID-19 go to Beaumont Canton or another hospital. Curbside screening for the virus which had been available in tents erected in the hospital parking lot has also been discontinued at the Wayne facility.
“Cars are driving up continuously to give us donations and bring us things,” Wilson said. “We just have an outpouring of support from our community saying thank you in different ways. The outpouring from the community gives me hope.”
Beaumont Wayne patients were being discharged as soon as medically safe last week in preparation for the expected surge of transferred patients. Wilson said the hospital was identifying the resources and staffing levels needed in Wayne to care for the COVID-19 patients.
“The Beaumont, Wayne team has the expertise and ability to respond quickly to meet the needs of our COVID-19 patients. When patients come to a Beaumont hospital to seek care for COVID-19, our physicians will assess them. If the hospital does not have the capacity to care for the patient, we will transfer more COVID-19 patients to Beaumont Hospital, Wayne,” Wilson's statement said.
 “We continue to monitor the shifting volumes and needs of our patients and teams across Beaumont to make the best decisions. I am confident the team at our Wayne hospital is ready to serve the needs of COVID-19 patients. We are sending additional staff, supplies and equipment to help support our phenomenal team at Wayne.”