TCF Center to be converted to makeshift hospital in 9 days
DETROIT - With metro Detroit hospitals nearing capacity, health officials have sought out other locations with enough space and staff to aid Michigan's overburdened health infrastructure.
One of the first makeshift hospitals will be the TCF convention center in downtown Detroit. Selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, approximately 1,000 beds will be moved into the building to hold additional patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
So how will that look?
It's uncertain how the contractor will stage the operation, but it's likely to take place on two floors of the convention center. One floor will be dedicated to critically ill patients and the other for patients who have tested positive for coronavirus but aren't experiencing serious side effects.
A 1,000-bed makeshift hospital is being setup at the TCF center in Detroit. Here’s how:
Soon, there won't be enough beds to care for every COVID-19 patient. With an influx of masks, face shields and gowns coming in and out of hospitals, the Army Corps of Engineers is setting up a makeshift hospital with 1,000 beds at the TCF center in Detroit to cushion the burden on Michigan's health care system.
TCF staff are expected to have the hospital ready in nine days if each floor is set up sequentially. If the floors are set up concurrently, medical operations could be ready in as many as five days.
On Monday, State Health Chief. Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said Michigan was likely weeks away from peaking in recorded coronavirus cases. That estimation comes as Henry Ford and Beaumont hospital systems warn they are nearing capacity for beds, ventilators and still can't acquire enough gowns, masks and face shields.
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Another resource the state is short on are physicians that can care for patients diagnosed with COVID-19. On Sunday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order that would fill that gap by relaxing medical laws on nurses and physician assistants who aren't allowed to help.
"We don't have enough medical professionals today to staff a 1,000-bed facility but we are aggressively loosening medical practice laws, calling for volunteers," said Khaldun.
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Last week, the Army Corps said it was assessing several viable locations where pop-up hospitals could be established to ease the burden on hospitals. On Saturday, news broke the North American International Auto Show had been canceled due to the TCF center being reserved as one of those designated locations.
Other sites like Wayne State dormitories and the Detroit Pistons Performance Center were also considered as possible locations.
Funded by FEMA, the badly-needed aid comes as cases in Detroit and Michigan reported their highest daily totals to date on Monday.