Cape Coronavirus: Step-Down Facilities See First Patients

HYANNIS, MA — The step-down facilities that opened this week to treat the new coronavirus on Cape Cod already have a small numbers of patients that were discharged from the hospital, Cape Cod Healthcare CEO Michael Lauf said.

The facilities at the former Wingate at Brewster nursing home, the Royal Falmouth Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Joint Base Cape Cod provide about 300 beds. Lauf told the Cape Cod Times the beds will be used for patients that no longer need intensive care, especially if hospital beds are full.

Lauf also said the field hospital at Joint Base Cape Cod is ready to accept patients transferred from Boston that no longer need ICU care.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported that 57 percent of the state's 18,300 hospital beds are still available. But Lauf said the field hospitals give staff experience to handle a potential surge.

"It's just training them and understanding workflow," Lauf said also reiterating that facilities are a "really good spot" for patients.

In a news conference Thursday, Lauf said Cape Cod is seeing a "slight downward trend" of total cases. But Lauf said this isn't the time to lose focus and would rather the region be over-prepared for a COVID-19 outbreak. As of Thursday afternoon, there were 708 confirmed new coronavirus cases in Barnstable County.

Lauf also urged residents not to avoid hospitals for non-COVID-19 related reasons. He said the hospitals are safe and people still need to make sure they get treatment when they need it.

“The fact of the matter is, we're experts in treating infectious disease," Lauf said. "The environment here is very safe, and people shouldn't wait too long."