BOSTON (WHDH) - A 1,000-bed field hospital set up at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center will begin accepting patients Friday, providing additional support for local hospitals strained by the coronavirus outbreak.
Anticipating a surge in COVID-19 cases in the coming days, Gov. Charlie Baker said during a news conference at the State House Thursday that this his administration worked collaboratively with Boston officials and community partners to provide an additional 1,000 beds for infected patients at the new field hospital.
Partners HealthCare will lead clinical care efforts at the field medical station. The makeshift facility will be called “Boston HOPE.”
“I hope we don’t have to use it, to be quite honest,” Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said Thursday of the medical station. “This is a virus and it’s very unpredictable.”
The field medical station will have 500 beds reserved for individuals infected with coronavirus and 500 will provide shelter for the homeless population.
The convention center site is the latest field medical station to be stood up by the state’s Coronavirus Command Center and its partners in the healthcare community.
Northeastern University, Boston University, Hotel Boston, Emmanuel College, The Massachusetts Institute of Art, and Simmons University will be providing housing for Boston-area medical workers who need it, Walsh added.
A field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester started taking virus patients on Thursday morning.
Click here for more coronavirus coverage.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)