Hospitalized Covid patient says staff is 'overrun' with cases surging

DEARBORN, Mich. (FOX 2) - Metro Detroit hospitals are swamped with COVID-19 patients as case numbers soar throughout the state.

Triage centers are being set up at Grosse Pointe Beaumont with the idea under consideration at the Dearborn and Farmington Hills locations. Outside it appears as business as usual but inside is a different story.

Hospitalized COVID-19 patient says what it is like during surge of cases

John English was scheduling his vaccine appointments when he got sick two weeks ago. It's clear staffing is stretched. Beaumont is pulling from the outside to backfill.

"When I first came in it was like a war zone," said patient John English. "I couldn’t believe the amount of people that need help, and were in the hallways and (it was) overrun."

One week in, English was admitted to the COVID-19 unit at Beaumont Hospital Dearborn where the 55-year-old was one of more than 800 patients admitted among to their eight hospitals.

"The biggest concern was I have a blood clot on my lung which we just found out a couple days ago," English said. "Besides that, I lose breath when I try and walk around a little bit, I guess I’ll be going home on oxygen."

English was scheduling his vaccine appointments when he got sick two weeks ago. It's clear staffing is stretched. Beaumont is pulling from the outside to backfill.

"Everyone has been great and compassionate and understanding, -more than helpful with everything that’s going on," said English.

"Our strategy to get to the other side of this pandemic and to flatten this curve, is really to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible," said Dr. Nick Gilpin

Gilpin, the Beaumont health director of infection prevention, and the Centers for Disease Control agree, vaccines alone won’t get Michigan out of this surge. The doctor says we do need more policy restrictions right now.

"The difference in the first surge we experienced was that there were community restrictions to limit gathering sizes and limit indoor activities," he said.

In the meantime, they are setting up triage stations outside of the hospitals to accommodate the influx of Covid patients.

Patient John English is expected to be released in the next couple days.