Contra Costa County has been working with local hospitals to increase our region's hospital bed capacity to handle an anticipated surge of COVID-19 patients.
The collective bed capacity of all hospitals in the county will increase
by 100%, from 1,171 to 2,267.
In addition to these beds, the County
is establishing alternate care sites at non-hospital locations to serve more patients.
The Ford Building Craneway Pavilion in Richmond has been selected as one of these alternate care sites. The Craneway Pavilion will be converted into a 250-bed Federal Medical Station for COVID-19 patients.
This is a partnership of County, State and Federal governments.
Other alternate care sites are planned for other parts of the county.
Starting this week, the National Guard will transport beds and medical supplies to the Craneway. The goal is to have the site ready to receive patients by the third week of April, the time of an expected surge of serious COVID-19 illness.
This temporary care site will provide alternate care for COVID-19 patients who do not need ICU-level care.
The facility will only be used if local hospitals lack capacity. The site will be secured and not open to the public.
Contra Costa County physicians, nurses and other professional staff will provide care at the Craneway site. I thank them for their dedicated service on the frontlines of this pandemic. They are working relentlessly to save lives.
Some people may not know that this kind of community use of the historic Ford Building
continues a history of service for the site,
from being a Ford Auto Plant to assembling jeeps, tanks and military vehicles during World War II.
Meanwhile, let's all continue to stay home as much as possible to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed.
Thank you for all of your prevention efforts.
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