This new task force will aid Sparrow healthcare workers who have worked short-staffed ICU rooms for nearly two years. The federal team will help in the emergency room by opening more bedding for Omicron patients, which is sorely needed in hospitals — not just in Lansing, but across the county. 

To the director of media relations and corporate communications at Sparrow Hospital John Foren, this federal task force is what Sparrow needs right now. 

“The team will supplement our very hard-working and exhausted caregivers,” Foren said. “We need any help we can get at this point. Our caregivers have been dealing with the pandemic for obviously two years now and they have been doing incredible work — but we need any assistance we can.”

According to Michigan's COVID-19 testing data, on Jan. 25, Ingham County confirmed 49,206 positive cases with many patients hospitalized with the Omicron variant. As COVID-19 adapts and changes, so too must healthcare strategies to combat it. 

“We’ve been one of the leaders in Michigan for COVID care, we’ve been internationally recognized really for everything we’ve done,” Foren said.

Foren said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who represents parts of Ingham County in the U.S. House of Representatives, had a role to play in receiving federal aid.

“We were also chosen because Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin really went to bat for us," Foren said. "We’ve been pushing for this for a while, but she really went to bat, and she talked about it in Washington and with federal authorities best she could to push for Sparrow. So, we have her to thank for this, too.”

The other teams deployed from the Department of Defense in Michigan are supporting hospitals in Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Muskegon and Wyandotte. More than ever, healthcare workers require aid from federal teams as hospitals continue to fill to capacity from COVID-19.

In a release, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addressed the Omicron variant, as well as the hard work of all healthcare workers. 

“As we continue facing down the Omicron variant, I am grateful to our federal partners for their continued support,” Whitmer wrote. “They are providing critical relief to Michigan's hospitals. Our health care professionals have been on the frontlines of the pandemic for nearly two years, and I urge Michiganders to do their part to keep themselves safe and help our hospitals. Get vaccinated and if you are eligible, get your booster, to keep yourself out of the hospital.”