They’ve already got beds and bathrooms. Here’s how hotels could convert into makeshift hospitals – FierceHealthcare

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to convert convention centers, arenas and a high school gym intoalternate care sites with makeshift hospital beds to handle the overflow of COVID-19 patients.

With the anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases, those are just a few of the building options public health officials are quickly weighing as they seek to create temporary patient care facilities to offload low-acuity patients from health system demand.

But what about the idea of convertinghotels to be used for COVID-19 patients?

Hotels represent an opportunity to leverage unused spaceforlow-acuity COVID-19 patients as travel and tourism dropped during the pandemic, according to Jason Schroer, principal and director of health at the Dallas branch of HKS, an architectural firm that designs hospitals, during a virtual event with theArmy Corps of Engineers this week.

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Full-service convention hotels providethe best opportunity to quickly create and support functional patient care spaces that will be needed if the virus spreads to predicted levels,according toaconcept studycreated by the architectural firm.

According to HKS' plan, here's how it could work:

Features already in the guest rooms can be used such as the television, a telephone that connects to a central station, Wi-Fi connectivity and a toilet/ shower room with a sink. For additional patient monitoring, off-the-shelf camera systems can be easily installed in the rooms. Hotel carpets also would need to be covered with "carpet protection tape thatcan be easily changed between patients.

"While this is not ideal for infection control it can help to reduce the incidence of contamination and spread due to fluid ejections and spills. And, it is achievable," HKS said in its concept study.

The hotel would need to be thoroughly cleaned and all carpet should be removed and replaced before the hotel returns to standard operations, HKS architects said.The air exhaust and ventilation systems would need to be cleaned through pressure washing and other methods.In many cases, the hotel interior would need to be completely renovated.

The speed of conversion is key in any of these alternative sites.

The Army Corps of Engineers has assessed about 820 facilities as alternative care sites, with about half of those locations being arenas and the other half hotels and dormitories. They'veawarded contracts for 17 alternate care sites in New York, Michigan, Florida, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois and Tennessee. Those sites will have atotal bed count of 15,500 beds.

State officials have shown a preference for converting arenas and convention centers as these facilities are typically owned by state and local governments, said George Lea, chief of military engineering at the Army Corp of Engineers.

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With the right resources and team, a full-service convention hotel could be converted for patient care in10 to 14 days, according to the concept study.

But according to the Army Corp of Engineers, approved site adaptations must happen in as little as five days and at most two weeks to align with state projected virus peaks.The most high-profile project to date has been the conversion of New York City's 1.8 million-square-foot Jacob K. Javits Convention Center into an alternate care facility for more than 2,000 patients. The corps was able to complete the project in about a week.

"It does save time in the process, as far as negotiations. We dont have the luxury of time. Our timeline is about fivedays," he said.

To date, only four contracts have been awarded to convert facilities classified as "hotels/dorms"to alternative care sites. But, so far, those facilities aren't actual hotels butinclude former hospitals and a center for intellectual and developmental disabilities.

But converted hotels could work well for convalescent care or even hospice care. They are also predominantly located in the population centers where the needs for COVID-19 treatment and sequestration may be higher and likely near major hospitals, according to the report.

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They've already got beds and bathrooms. Here's how hotels could convert into makeshift hospitals - FierceHealthcare