New coronavirus field hospital readies for opening Monday in Lowell
The recommissioned location has the capacity to hold 77 beds, but the facility has still only recruited enough nurses to staff 14.
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A second field hospital is scheduled to open its doors in Lowell on Monday due to an ongoing surge in coronavirus cases throughout Massachusetts.
The alternative care site located at UMass Lowell’s Campus Recreation Center and run by Lowell General Hospital was initially set to open with a “soft launch” in late December for local patients only, but a shortage of available nurses and medical workers stalled the opening until Monday, The Lowell Sun reported.
Though the recommissioned location has the capacity to hold 77 beds, the newspaper reported, the facility has still only recruited enough nurses to staff one 14-bed pod. Every pod needs three nurses and two patient care technologists.
Designed to host recovering COVID-19 patients who don’t require critical care and act as a relief valve for hospitals to manage an influx of more seriously ill patients, the site was previously set up during a week in mid-April, when Lowell General was caring for patients at the height of the pandemic’s first wave.
While the additional capacity was ultimately not needed at the time, according to the hospital, and the site was returned to the university about one month later, it’s since been prepped again due to new capacity challenges from rising COVID-19 cases.
In early December, state officials reopened the first field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester and have since seen its beds quickly filling up, noting how it’s been much busier during the second surge of coronavirus cases than it was during the first.
A spokesperson for UMass Memorial Health Care, which runs the DCU location, told WBZ-TV Tuesday that officials treated 161 COVID-19 cases in 22 days.
Ahead of the Lowell site’s reopening, hospital officials are still searching for trained healthcare professionals to staff the field hospital if they end up needing to expand capacity.
“Preparation has played a critical role in our ability to respond to this public health crisis, and this step will ensure we will be prepared for whatever comes our way in the coming weeks,” Jody White, President and CEO of Lowell General and Circle Health, said in a recent statement.
As of Jan. 2, the City of Lowell reported 10,811 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
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