The UPHS-Marquette hospital, along West Baraga in Marquette, is pictured. (Journal file photo)

MARQUETTE — UP Health System-Marquette confirmed that it has identified and isolated multiple patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and were transferred to the hospital from other facilities.

UHPS-Marquette said in a statement Wednesday that it is working closely with Upper Peninsula hospitals to provide support when needed.

“We are continuing to work closely with the Marquette County Health Department and following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure the safety of our patients, the clinical teams that are caring for these individuals and all those within our facility,” the statement read. “Our hospital is prepared with the appropriate plans to detect, protect and respond. We have been preparing for the potential of COVID-19 in our community for many weeks, building upon the robust emergency operations plan we have in place year-round.”

UPHS-Marquette also reminds people that it has moved to a zero-visitor protocol and has limited entry points to the hospital.

Exceptions to this protocol may include pediatric patients, the maternity unit, the newborn intensive care unit and those receiving end-of-life care, officials said.

Per CDC guidelines, each person entering the facility will be screened for temperature, respiratory symptoms and travel history.

“We want to reassure our communities that it is safe to come to UP Health System-Marquette should you or your family need care,” it said. “We stand ready to serve you.”

In a community town hall video posted on YouTube Tuesday, UPHS-Marquette CEO and UPHS Market President Gar Atchison addressed some of the issues facing the facility because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Our main focus at this time is to take care of patients, our employees, and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Atchison said. “Our hospital has been preparing for weeks in advance of this.”

Atchison said command center personnel meet daily seven days a week, plus there is a 24/7 command center hotline for internal concerns and questions to be brought forward.

The center includes physician participation as UPHS-Marquette prepares for “every possible turn of this event,” he noted.

Atchison said the hospital as a “strong supply” of personal protective equipment for staff and physicians.

“We are, like every hospital, working to conserve the PPE and looking at how to reduce the burn rate, which really led us to the decision to cease all elective procedures in the facility,” he said.

UPHS-Marquette has undertaken “surge planning,” said Atchison, which involves an inpatient facility where people having COVID-19 or suspected of having it are housed. There also is a plan for using additional floors as patient numbers increase, with the goal of keeping the COVID-19 patients on those specific floors to protect the public.

“This is a stressful time, both in the community and also here within the facility, so we’re focusing hard now on building staff resiliency,” said Atchison, who noted staff would welcome cards of encouragement from the public.

Atchison thanked the community for the support already provided, including Masks for Marquette, and another project that originated at Marquette Senior High School but grew to involve other local residents who focused on making face shields using 3D printers.

“We’ve secured N95 respirator masks from Northern Michigan University, and are in the process now of moving over some of their large convection ovens as we prepare for the possibility of having to sterilize and reuse N95s in the future,” Atchison said.

Matt Heywood, president and CEO of the Wisconsin-based nonprofit community-directed health system Aspirus Inc., which operates hospitals in Wisconsin and the U.P., also issued a statement.

“Right now, social distancing allows us to flatten the curve and give health care time to plan ahead to meet any future demands,” Heywood said. “If we don’t flatten the curve or reduce spread, by staying at home and using mitigation, we could be quickly overwhelmed as a country and healthcare system.”

He said many experts believe it will be 12 to 18 months before a vaccine is available.

“There are a lot of different models and variables that predict the peak,” Heywood said. “Based on several models, we are now concluding that around late April or May, we will know just how serious the situation is and if the mitigation strategies are working.

“We will know we have reached the peak of the curve when the need for (intensive care unit) beds begins to decrease across the state.”

He said improving testing availability and turnaround time — and getting results within a day — can improve contact tracing to reduce spread. Production of personal protection equipment also must be increased to help ill patients not spread disease and keep caregivers safe.

Christie Mastric can be reached at cbleck@miningjournal.net.