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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and a delegation of Shelby County leaders and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers service members will mark the completion of a significant project in Tennessee’s COVID-19 efforts with a joint review of the equipping and readying of the Mid-South region’s COVID-19 alternate care site at 495 Union Ave., in Memphis, Tenn, according a news release from Lee’s office.
“Our work in Shelby County represents an effective local, state, and federal partnership effort to put in place a critical need in our COVID-19 efforts,” Lee said. “These relationships are vital as we balance and evaluate the state’s short- and long-term COVID-19 response, and tailor health care planning efforts to local needs.”
The release said the Memphis alternate care site provides an additional 401, individual bed spaces to treat COVID-19 patients if area hospitals begin to exceed their bed capacity, and is set up with only base supplies currently, such as beds, chairs, tables, and IV poles,
Medical equipment and supplies will be put in place if the site is activated to receive and treat patients who test positive for COVID-19 and experience symptoms requiring low-acuity hospital care.
“The facility has the advantage of being located in close proximity to numerous Memphis hospitals and came with infrastructure in place that facilitated rapid and safe conversion as an alternate care site,” said Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP, Tennessee Department of Health. “Our hope is we never need it; however the facility is ready and will remain on standby until TDH and Shelby County officials determine the capacity is needed to treat COVID-19 patients.”
Under a Mission Assignment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, USACE coordinated and managed the construction contractors during the facility’s renovation phase, and the Governor’s Unified Command Group has secured the wrap-around services for the ongoing maintenance and operation of the facility.
These wrap-around services, which will only be put in place if the site is activated, include biomedical, food, ice and water, internal and external security, internet access, janitorial, linen, medical oxygen, office supplies, pest control, pharmacy, and radiological and X-rays.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis will provide medical direction for the care of patients if the facility is occupied.
Quick Facts about the Memphis Alternate Care Site
- The Memphis care site is located at 495 Union Ave. and occupies four floors of a five-story, 125,000 square-foot building that is the former home for The Commercial Appeal.
- The facility can accommodate 401 patients, with 33 beds set aside for higher-acuity care, and is equipped with 22 nursing stations, and 30 storage rooms.
- As of May 16, USACE members and 16 USACE-contracted Memphis companies had devoted more than 193,000 hours of work into renovating the facility, for an average of 275 people on-site, around-the-clock, for one month.
- nexAir, an industrial gas equipment supplier, installed the facility’s oxygen supply system and tanks, with a main tank that will hold 6,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and a 3,000-gallon back-up tank.
- Fifty-six service members of the Tennessee National Guard transported all of the basic supplies currently at the facility.
The award of a Major Disaster Declaration to Tennessee on April 2, 2020, made funding assistance available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the State for costs associated with implementing COVID-19 emergency protective measures, such as establishing alternate care sites to increase hospital bed capacity.
Gov. Lee established the UCG on March 23, 2020, to streamline the COVIG-19 emergency response coordination between the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, the Tennessee Department of Health, and the Tennessee Department of Military.