Montgomery County Hospitals Set Up Tents For Coronavirus Triage

SILVER SPRING, MD — Six hospitals in Montgomery County are erecting triage tents outside their facilities as they brace for an expected influx of new coronavirus cases.

The number of confirmed cases in the affluent suburb of 1.1 million climbed to 31 on Wednesday. And county health officials say the worst is yet to come.

In an effort to flatten the curve, county first responders and the National Guard are pitching tents outside:

• Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center in Silver Spring;
• Suburban Hospital in Bethesda;
• Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville;
• Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring;
• Holy Cross Hospital in Germantown; and
• Medstar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney

Dr. Travis Gayles, the county health officer, said the tents will give hospital staff more space to triage, test, and screen patients who may have COVID-19 and minimize exposure to anyone inside the facilities.

"The hospitals are taking steps that are a traditional part of preparedness exercise when we have an infectious disease outbreak, at this point a pandemic," said Gayles. "So the steps they are taking is to put up tents to be able to triage patients who have symptoms that are concerning for COVID-19, to create a larger space to be able to triage, screen and test those individuals. It also creates an opportunity to alleviate exposure to anyone who is in an emergency room or in the hospital setting and allows us to free up capacity in the emergency rooms for other patients."

Gayles says these tents are not in place for testing. Anyone with symptoms — like fever, coughing, and shortness of breath — should first call their doctor.

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