U.S. military sending medical staff to help Michigan battle COVID-19 surge

The U.S. government will send 44 military medical staffers to Michigan to help beleaguered hospitals treat COVID-19 patients amid a fourth surge that is the worst in the country, state health officials said Wednesday.

It also will open beds at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Detroit for transfers.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sought the assistance at the request of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.

The two teams of 22 physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists will arrive next week and care for patients for 30 days at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, the state health department