Munson Healthcare in Traverse City is activating protocols for Pandemic Response Level Red due to the rise of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the region. Officials there say the positivity rate and hospitalizations continue to steadily increase and northern Michigan’s positivity rate is higher than the state’s overall rate. Munson Chief Medical Officer Christine Nefcy says the current trends are similar to the last surge in the spring.
“The difference being that those surges were pretty quick in terms of how they increased and then declined,” Nefcy said. “This one has been longer and a little bit flatter, which is obviously impacting the healthcare organization pretty significantly.”
This is the first time in the organization’s history the response level has been red, which is the highest of Munson Healthcare’s five-stage pandemic preparedness plan. It means pandemic-related care is prioritized above all other issues.
