Western Wayne Today

While the COVID-19 crisis hit some hospitals harder than anticipated, for others the situation was not so grave. Beaumont Hospital in Wayne is one such hospital that has fared well. 

According to Bridge Michigan, Beaumont Hospital is planning to reopen after it was initially designated to be a reserve COVID-19 hospital in April. It was anticipated that Beaumont’s campus in Wayne would be needed after other hospitals were being filled to capacity during the pandemic. 

However, the surge that was anticipated to hit Beaumont Wayne never happened, and now the campus will be returning to its full-service hospital with Level III trauma center accessibility for the region. 

Many employees from the Wayne campus were moved to other locations or are temporarily without a job; those employees may have the chance to return to work once the hospital reopens, but no decision has been made as of yet. 

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that because the number of coronavirus cases is decreasing, there is a great need to have more hospital beds available for patients seeking other treatments. 

According to Beaumont's website, Beaumont Health Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Wilson said that they are attempting to take the steps to reopen slowly and carefully in order to be well-situated for a surge should it come. 

“Beaumont Health has cared for more COVID-19 patients than any other health system in the state. We’ve proudly responded to the community’s needs during this pandemic and reconfigured our hospitals and redeployed staff to provide high-quality and safe care,” Wilson said in a press release. “With the number of COVID-19 patients seeking care at Beaumont decreasing a bit recently, it is now appropriate to begin reopening the Wayne campus in phases as we carefully prepare for another potential COVID-19 surge.”

Phase one of the reopening will include the emergency center, obstetrical services and observation/inpatient medical surgical beds, as well as support services.