In anticipation of potential COVID-19 surges in the coming weeks, state officials and health experts are expanding the Hartford region鈥檚 hospital bed capacity.
The state National Guard and the Department of Public Health in partnership with Hartford HealthCare are reopening a 600-bed field hospital at the 黑料吃瓜网 Convention Center. They say this is a precautionary move as numbers of cases and hospitalizations continue to generally trend upward.
鈥淩ight now, we still have pretty good capacity, but let鈥檚 be prepared,鈥� said Gov. Ned Lamont at a media briefing Wednesday.
State data show that 1,254 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. An estimated 77% of 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 inpatient hospital beds are occupied, for all medical reasons, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The alternative hospital site at the convention center was initially opened during the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, when as many as 1,972 people were hospitalized in late April.
Dr. Jim Cardon, chief clinical integration officer at Hartford HealthCare, said despite those high numbers, they ultimately didn鈥檛 have to use the field hospital. He hopes that鈥檚 the case this time around, too.
鈥淏ecause the safest place for people to be is in the four walls of a hospital. This is really in that situation to where those aren鈥檛 options,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is somewhat of an insurance policy to make sure we have capacity and don鈥檛 put people in harm鈥檚 way, where we鈥檙e so full that we can鈥檛 care for people.鈥�
Cardon said health experts are concerned that upcoming holiday gatherings and pandemic 鈥渇atigue鈥� may contribute to spikes in cases in the next several weeks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a joyous time when they want to get together with families, and it鈥檚 very hard to continue to contain that,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, masks, social distance, washing hands -- all of that stuff is critically important. And the best way to make sure that we don鈥檛 have to use this facility is for people to do those kinds of things that we know work to reduce the spread of this virus.鈥�
The National Guard will begin setup on Friday. Hartford HealthCare will staff the alternative site and bring in all necessary electronic and medical equipment and supplies.
The beds will strictly be for patients who are recovering from COVID-19 but are not yet well enough to return home or to a community living facility. They may still need IVs, oxygen and other medical treatment but do not require ventilators or intensive care.
Any hospital in the region -- not just Hartford HealthCare sites -- will be able to transfer COVID-19 patients to the convention center in times of limited bed capacity.
Lamont said there is no need to reopen or create any other field hospital at this time.
Also on Friday, a small number of nursing homes will begin vaccinating its staff and residents early for COVID-19. Vaccine distribution at long-term care facilities through a federal partnership program with CVS and Walgreens was initially set to begin Dec. 21.
鈥淚鈥檓 told that the feds found four states that they want to prioritize,鈥� Lamont said. 鈥淭hankfully for us, 黑料吃瓜网 was one of those four states, so we did get the vaccine shipment a little earlier, and we鈥檝e got Walgreens and CVS ready to go.鈥�
More shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in 黑料吃瓜网 next week.
An independent advisory group is set to review Moderna鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccine Thursday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to issue an emergency use authorization shortly after, and doses could start arriving in 黑料吃瓜网 as early as next week.
