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Alpena's hospital has initiated new programs that will benefit both the community and the hospital, MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena President Mike Erickson told News staff writer Mike Gonzalez in a recent interview.
Erickson highlighted the hospital's new Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Program that launched on Oct. 23 and helps patients with an ST-elevation myocardial infarction, also known as STEMI, the most serious type of heart attack.
Since October, the hospital has performed 11 such procedures -- that's 11 lives saved -- on its way to a goal of performing 36 such procedures within 12 months, which would allow the hospital to apply for licensure to perform other heart operations.
As well, the hospital has hired eight nursing students through a collaboration with Alpena Community College, and 28 others graduating in 2024 have committed to joining the hospital staff.
That should help the hospital avoid using agencies to hire expensive traveling nurses, which contributed to an $8 million loss last year at MyMichigan Health, the Midland-based owner of the Alpena hospital.
That should also help ensure the hospital can provide adequate care to every patient who walks through its doors.
"At the end of the day, we want to provide more quality services to the community," Erickson told Gonzalez. "We cannot do everything, everywhere, but I want to keep appropriate care close to home."
The programs Erickson outlined to Gonzalez show the hospital is working to do just that.
We're grateful to hospital leadership for their efforts to improve the lives of Northeast Michiganders, and we hope they continue to find innovative new ways to fulfill their mission.