Maya McFadden Photo
Guard members unloading medical supplies at SCSU.
The National Guard has begun work on a temporary “surge” hospital on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) to help ease the potential health-care crisis in town once the Covid-19 spread peaks.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) office based out of Maynard, Mass., helped with a delivery of several trucks full of equipment to the Moore Fieldhouse on the SCSU campus on Tuesday to begin putting together the 300-bed field hospital.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided FEMA with the hospital equipment. FEMA staffer Eric Kassoy said the equipment was delivered to FEMA in three 50-foot trailers, which were repackaged into trucks by FEMA and delivered on-site at SCSU.
“This is an unusual situation,” Kassoy said about having to deliver so much equipment and about receiving assistance from the National Guard.
Members of the National Guard unloaded the equipment and plan to set up the on-site hospital Wednesday.
Some of the equipment included beds and supplies for sanitation stations.
In anticipation of work stepping up on Wednesday, Mayor Justin Elicker advised neighbors not to fear if they see helicopters in the sky.
“We anticipate additional increased activity at the site, including a planned delivery of materials via military helicopter,” he wrote in an email blast to citizens. “At this point, the site is intended to treat non-COVID-19 patients so we can provide more space for those who need COVID-19-related care at the hospital. This is good news that the State is working hard to prepare for the likelihood that our medical system will need to cope with a significant surge in patients.”
In addition to the field hospital, SCSU has “made nine residence halls – about 2,500 beds available for an as yet undesignated purpose, although one will be used to provide housing for medical staff at area hospitals,” reported university spokesperson Patrick Dilger.
