BOSTON (WHDH) - Massachusetts is bracing for an expected surge in coronavirus cases by setting up field hospitals in the state.
Gov. Charles Baker visited the DCU Center in Worcester on Wednesday, where trucks of supplies arrived and 250 beds are being set up to help treat the rising number of COVID-19 patients.
“The bottom line is you have a lot of latitude to create a model that is being used in a lot of other places and used successfully,” Baker said.
National Guard, FEMA and others are working around the clock to get the 50,000-square-foot facility up and running.
“It is a challenge but these hospitals are set up to be quickly designed and to handle any kind of emergency,” Dr. Eric Dickson of UMass Memorial Healthcare said. “We need about 2,000 beds across Mass. to meet the surge we expect in a couple of weeks.”
The DCU Center will become the state’s first field hospital.
The second will be built at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
In Fitchburg, the Landry Arena is being converted into a temporary morgue.
Baker said they are looking at other sites in the state that might be able to help with hospital overflow.
“There are going to be ultimately strategies for the Cape, for the South Coast, for Western Mass., for Merrimack Valley, and for Boston,” he said. “Each strategy is going to be based on the existing capacity that exists in each of those places.”
While these places will be equipped to treat people sickened by the virus, those who are critically ill will still receive care in a regular hospital.
For now, the biggest challenge facing this endeavor is staffing.
Doctors are calling on medical, nursing and pharmacy students to help staff these hospitals.
“We just simply do not have enough staff at the medical center to add beds,” Dickson said. “This is a time when we need you and this not something to be sitting on sidelines. This is your way to help.”
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