Munson Healthcare is committed to caring for our COVID-19 positive community by continuing to offer Monoclonal Antibody (mAb) therapy services in the ambulatory setting despite resource constraints. Since the beginning of the mAB program, we’ve treated more than 1,000 patients and increased treatment capacity by over 100% in the last 2 months but we continue to experience staffing challenges and and an enormous amount of referrals from our medical community all over the state of Michigan.
We are working real-time to improve efficiencies and procure staff to be able to treat as many patients as possible in our mAb ambulatory infusion sites. It is important that patients seeking this therapy are not directed to our Emergency Departments for treatment as patient volumes in those care areas are also at or over capacity.
Updated Information For Referring Providers:
- Please use the improved, secure mAb Therapy Pre-Screening Referral Form to refer your patient for monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy. This form is also available on our For Providers website.
- After Friday, November 5, referrals to the mAB clinic will only be processed using the web-based form; faxes, old forms submitted from EMR, RighFax, and/or paper forms will no longer be available or processed
- Do not instruct patients to go to the ED for this therapy. Only patients experiencing symptoms severe enough to require evaluation in the Emergency Department should be directed to the ED.
- The current volume of patients who meet the criteria for monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy continues to exceed the number of appointments available so not all patients you refer for treatment will be able to be treated. We are working on processes to notify providers and patients when we are unable to schedule them for treatment.
Other mAb Therapy Referral Options:
- MidMichigan Health: Fax required information* to 989-802-8804
- Spectrum Health: Call 616-391-0351 and leave required information* on voicemail (callback within 24 hours)
- State of Michigan mAb Call Center: 877-332-6585 (English); 877-366-0310 (Spanish)
*Please provide: positive test, date of system onset, and qualifying medical conditions
Please know that every health system in the state of Michigan is facing these same challenges and many, including Alpena, McLaren, and War Memorial, have closed their mAb Therapy clinics.