To the Ann Arbor City Council, Mayor, and Human Rights Commission, with a copy to the news media:
I am still the only candidate for Ann Arbor City Council, 4th Ward, who is on the ballot. I am also the closest thing to representation which Ward 4 now has, as of the March 16th City Council meeting. No other candidate or sitting representative even showed up to that City Council meeting — only I attended, and I spoke as well, demanding that field hospitals be prepared before our existing hospitals are swamped with COVID-19 cases.
Today, I still urge the Ann Arbor City Council to prepare field hospitals before our existing hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 victims.
I have also asked Washtenaw County Commission members why they can’t do the same.
In no case has any Ann Arbor City Councilmember, or any Washtenaw County Commission member, agreed to initiate the preparation of field hospitals. None of them have even agreed to advocate for that urgent action.
They need to get busy now, filing a Letter of Intent for an emergency Certificate of Need with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Certificate of Need Commission.
Unfortunately, since that Commission’s next scheduled meeting is not until June 18, 2020, our local authorities will also have to seek emergency approval directly from MDHHS to prepare a field hospital in Ann Arbor, unless they have a better plan, such as convincing the Governor to seek help from the U.S. Army:
In Madrid, the government is preparing a field hospital for 5,500 patients right now: https://www.thelocal.es/20200322/madrid-turns-conference-centre-into-big-field-hospital
And in Stockholm now: https://www.thelocal.se/20200322/a-field-hospital-will-be-built-in-stockholm-to-prepare-for-more-coronavirus-cases
In other words, the City Council needs to act now to get us a field hospital, before our existing hospitals are overwhelmed.
Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, PhD
Candidate for City Council, 4th Ward.
March 22, 2020
“Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist who is running for council, urged city officials to look to lessons learned in other countries and set up field hospitals now.”
* See full coverage in MLive, March 17, 2020, at https://www.mlive.com/news/
