HARTFORD, Conn. — With the rise of COVID-19 cases in the state, Hartford Healthcare announced they are rebuilding alternate care facilities at the Connecticut Convention Center.
This is a team effort of the State's Department of Public Health and the Connecticut National Guard.
The facilities are aimed for patients who are not ready to go home yet, but do not have to be on ventilators but can also receive IV's and other therapies.
"This is almost kind of like an IKEA bed in a box really. So these things come off the tractor trailers and we open it up and they’re kind of ... it’s almost like a bare bones set up and there’s instructions inside" said Staff Sgt. Tucker.
Chief Clinical Integration Officer Doctor James Cardon said their goal is to try to not use the beds.
"We certainly have no desire to care for patients in this facility if we can avoid it," said Dr. Cardon.
Dr. Cardon said the beds were originally put up in April, but there was never a need to use them.
Now that the numbers are rising because of the holidays, he added it can help out regional hospitals in terms of making more space available.
The site will be staffed by Hartford Healthcare doctors, nurses and therapists.
"It would mean we are taking some people out of their regular jobs because they’re all pretty busy now," added Dr. Cardon.
He hoped the number of cases will taper off past the holidays, but it will take a couple of weeks before patients are allowed into the site.
"The state is certainly baring the costs of a lot of this setup in what we could do to print the infrastructure. Hartford healthcare were responsible for the costs bringing what we’re bringing to the facility," added Dr. Cardon.
Any patient whose condition worsens will be transferred to a nearby hospital. The Connecticut National Guard will be rebuilding the site throughout the weekend.