WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2020) A military field hospital under construction with 250 beds expects to open for non-COVID-19 patients in the state city of Seattle (state of Washington) early next week, freeing up beds in area hospitals needed to treat people infected with the coronavirus, Army officers in charge of the project told reporters on Thursday.
"We are a referral facility for those local hospitals to offload patients from their beds into our facility to open up beds for COVID patients," Lieutenant Colonel Jason Hughes said by audio hookup with reporters at the Pentagon.
The hospital complex will feature 250 beds and 500 full-time medical professionals, Hughes said.
The facility, described as a tent city similar to field hospitals constructed in wartime, is expected to open early next week with a full supply of protective equipment such as gloves and masks, as well as 60 ventilators, Hughes added.
Any decision to redeploy the ventilators if they are needed elsewhere would be up to the Defense Department, according to Hughes.
US military hospital ships deployed in the cities of Los Angeles and New York serve a similar purpose, to free up beds needed to treat pandemic victims.
