DC Opens Coronavirus Surge Facility At Convention Center

WASHINGTON, DC — The D.C. government opened an Alternative Care Site at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in preparation for an expected surge in patients with COVID-19, the illness associated with the new coronavirus in the coming weeks. This adds 437 new beds to the District's COVID-19 treatment capacity.

"We are pleased that the numbers of positive COVID-19 cases in the District are far lower than what we predicted they could have been on this day," said Mayor Muriel Bowser, in a Monday morning briefing at the convention center.

The mayor noted the District has not seen a 14-day decline in community transmission of COVID-19, which is one of the indicators for reopening the city, which has been under a stay-at-home order since March 30. Bowser declined to say if she was going to extend the public health emergency due to expire on May 15, but said she would answer that question later this week.

"In terms of planning for a medical surge, we also know that without a cure and without a vaccine that with phased openings that we will see more cases in our city, in our region," Bowser said. "So part of our surge planning takes that into account and readies us for a potential second phase."

In early April, modeling by the D.C. Department of Health predicted the District would experience a surge in COVID-19 cases by mid-June, so it began the process of increasing hospital capacity, as well as establishing an Alternative Care Site to handle the influx of patients.

FEMA obligated $57 million for the Army Corps of Engineers to build surge treatment facilities in the District at both the convention center and the United Medical Center. Built in just 22 days, the Alternative Care Site is a joint effort between the District's Department of Health, MedStar Health and UMC.

The new facility is stocked with equipment from two federal medical station caches, including 50 cardiac monitors and 50 automated external defibrillators. It also has pharmaceuticals from the Strategic National Stockpile, and has the ability to do onsite radiology and ultrasounds, as well as point-of-care lab work. Patients coming to the convention center will be treated by MedStar staff.

According to Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 437 beds within the Alternative Care Site are in 10 foot by 10 foot pods, within Hall A of the convention center.

"There are six other rapid treatment pods," Semonite said, during the press briefing. "These were about 20 by 20, so if there is a problem with a patient, they bring it in here where the nurses and the doctors have a little bit more room to be able to work on that."

The Corps did not build any treatment spaces in Halls B or C, which could be used if more treatment space is needed, according to Semonite.

Even though the Alternative Care Site at the convention center is ready to accept up to 100 patients this week, the facility will not be used unless the District's hospitals exceed their capacity during the anticipated COVID-19 surge.

When the D.C. government began planning for the surge, it worked with area hospitals to identify 1,600 surge beds.

Without the new beds at the Alternative Care Site, the current hospital capacity in the District stands at 71 percent. As of Sunday, 1,775 patients were hospitalized in the District.

"Normally, without a pandemic, our acute care hospitals operate around 75 percent of capacity," Bowser said. "The average utilization since April one has been under 70 percent, indicating that there is sufficient capacity within our facilities. So again, D.C. residents should not hesitate to seek medical care for COVID-19 and for non-COVID-19 related concerns."

D.C. Health produced a time-lapse video of the installation of the Alternative Care Site at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and posted it on its YouTube channel:

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