The Missouri National Guard is preparing for a hotel in Ferguson to be transformed into the first alternate care site in the St. Louis region to expand medical capacity in advance of an expected surge of COVID-19 patients, Governor Mike Parson reported.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be working on the project, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Design and construction are getting underway this week. Parson said the facility could be utilized as early as next week if necessary.
The Florissant site could accommodate more than 100 people and be used to house individuals who test positive for COVID-19 with mild or no symptoms, as well as individuals exposed to COVID-19 and referred by health care professionals as requiring treatment but not hospitalization, Parson said.
Hospitals may also transfer recovering patients no longer in need of acute care but still requiring medical assistance, Parson said. Criteria could be adjusted in consultation with health care professionals as the situation continues to develop. The goal, Parson said, is to “significantly increase medical capacity by freeing up hospital beds for patients with more acute medical needs.”
While the Missouri National Guard will provide medical professionals to staff the alternate care site, it will not designate personnel already supporting COVID-19 response in their civilian positions, Parson said.
The Missouri Department of Public Safety is reviewing applications from hundreds of medical professionals who responded to Parson’s call for physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other health care professionals to support Missouri’s COVID-19 response.
The Missouri National Guard has been working as part of the State of Missouri’s effort to identify potential alternate care sites. The main selection criteria are locations in areas with potentially deficient bed counts, areas with spaces large enough for patient populations and areas where utilities are available to start immediate construction.
State and federal agencies are closely monitoring the spread of the disease and can rapidly scale up – or scale down – the response in support of local hospital systems caring for patients, according to FEMA. The build-out of an alternate care site does not guarantee that it will be utilized.
The Corps of Engineers was mission-assigned to the task by FEMA, which was petitioned by Gov. Mike Parson for help responding to the pandemic. Since Missouri is under a federal disaster declaration, FEMA will pay 75 percent of the costs associated with transforming the hotel into an alternate care site and/or caring for individuals housed there. Parson also mobilized the Missouri National Guard.
A mission assignment is a work order issued by FEMA to other federal agencies, in this case the Corps of Engineers, to provide State, Tribal or local governments with resources to save lives, protect property, or preserve public health or safety under a disaster declaration.
Other agencies involved are the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, the Missouri Office of Administration, the Missouri Hospital Association, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For the latest updates and information on how to protect yourself, including what to do if you think you are sick, visit www.coronavirus.gov.