Michigan health system has contingency plan to deny ventilators, ICU care to patients with low chanc

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

3:49 a.m.

Michigan health system has contingency plan to deny ventilators, ICU care to patients with low chance of survival

A Detroit area health system has developed a contingency plan to deny ventilators and intensive care treatment to coronavirus patients with a poor chance of surviving, including those with some preexisting medical conditions.

Details of the plan were listed on a draft letter from Henry Ford Health Systems to families that circulated on social media late on Thursday, though the company later clarified that it has not yet needed to implement the policy.

“With a pandemic, we must be prepared for worst case,” the health system said on Twitter. “With collective wisdom from our industry, we crafted a policy to provide guidance for making difficult patient care decisions. We hope never to have to apply them. We will always utilize every resource to care for our patients.”

Henry Ford, which runs six hospitals in Michigan, did not immediately respond to a request from The Washington Post.

According to the letter, Henry Ford hospitals would de-prioritize most patients with severe heart, lung kidney, or liver failure; terminal cancers; and severe trauma or burns. Any patient who does not improve with a ventilator or ICU care would also be pulled off those treatments and instead be given pain control measures.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/27/coronavirus-latest-news/#link-7LE3MCBPUBA7XFGAZQKQBKCAPQ

[RandySF]

1. Every health system does.

[arthritisR_US]

5. ?

[Meadowoak]

2. Just deny them to Republicans, they got us into this mess.

Just kidding.

[OhioChick]

3. I believe most hospitals have contingency plans at this point n/t

[Meowmee]

4. "With a pandemic, we must be prepared for worst case,"

That would mean there would be enough ventilators and ppe etc. for this scenario. This is what happens when you have a system based on profit and greed instead of on care. If we had a president of course instead of a lunatic backed up by fascists it wouldn't have gotten to this point.

[EarthFirst]

6. Of course; it didn't have to be this way...

Yet here we are.