A recent mission provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Army Corps of Engineers requests the agency to assess and identify alternative care facilities for the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’ve already got contracts, and we’re cutting contracts every night to be able to get contractors to be able to come into the facilities,” said Army Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, chief of the Army Corps of Engineers in a press conference on Friday. The Corps reported it will be assessing 114 facilities in 50 states and five territories as alternative health care facilities.  

One solution the agency is pursuing are compartmentalized rooms inside hotels or dormitories which could treat 20 patients at a time. A current Army Corps project to treat COVID-19 patients in New York City is converting the Javits Convention Center into a makeshift hospital. “We’re going into these facilities that already have electricity. They already have water. They have all the fire protection. They have all of the driveways open. They have all the capability they need,” said Semonite.  

Photo by K.C. Wilsey // FEMA