How Dallas convention center will become Texas’ first pop-up hospital for coronavirus
The Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas will serve as a makeshift hospital as COVID-19 cases increase in Dallas County.
It will be the first pop-up hospital center in the state, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sunday.
On Monday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said he and other county leaders were still working through the details on how exactly the hospital will operate. The governor said hospitals will continue to be the primary location to treat coronavirus patients, but state officials are preparing for the “worst-case challenges.”
An email to a Dallas County spokeswoman asking if the center would serve entire Metroplex was not returned. Asked on Monday if Tarrant County has plans to open a similar center, Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja referred the question to Mayor Betsy Price’s office. An email to Price’s office was not immediately returned.
During a Monday evening video chat with reporters, Jenkins said it still hasn’t been decided how the center will be used.
The question is whether it will be used for COVID-19 patients who are on the mend but still need professional care, or if it will be used for non-COVID-19 patients who require hospitalization (such as people who have suffered from a heart attack, stroke or injury). Taking those patients away from hospitals will leave those centers open for additional COVID-19 patients.
That decision could determine which counties use the center.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas National Guard will set up 250 beds, with the capacity for more if needed.
Of the cases in Dallas County that ended in hospitalization, 36% of them have required ICU care, according to county data. Similar data has not been released in Tarrant County.
Abbott said Sunday there were 176 people hospitalized across the state because of coronavirus. About 10% of people statewide who test positive have needed to be hospitalized, the governor said.
Projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show a peak of COVID-19 cases and hospital resource use in Texas around the beginning of May. Original projections estimated the peak to be sometime in April until state mandated social distancing measures were issued.
The projections show Texas might not have a shortage of hospital beds, but could be about 210 ICU beds short.
Jenkins said the Navy will staff the center. He placed a call out to retired nurses and doctors who are willing to help with the center. He said on Monday that the list of those interested has grown to more than 130.
“Right now we’re in pretty good shape,” Jenkins said, explaining that the hospitals have canceled non-essential procedures.
“The hospitals are very, very not busy,” he later added.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 11:28 AM.
