LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is assessing several sites across Pennsylvania, including several in Lancaster County, for their potential use as alternate care facilities in the event of a medical facilities shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lancaster County Commissioners said Wednesday in a press release.
The Corps of Engineers is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency in the effort, the commissioners said.
The Corps of Engineers recently began work on the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, retrofitting it into a 1,000-bed hospital with an additional 1,800 field medical stations, according to the commissioners. Initial evaluations of locations across Central Pennsylvania have been conducted to determine the feasibility of converting similar locations in the region into alternate care sites.
"While specifics have not been released, several of the locations assessed reside within Lancaster County," the commissioners' press release said.
The process begins with the identification of available buildings, like former healthcare centers, hotels, dormitories and convention centers, in a prioritized order, according to the release.
Once identified, a more thorough evaluation is conducted to determine the appropriate steps needed to convert the location into a usable treatment location, the commissioners said.
According to a Pentagon press briefing on March 20, Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, stated that once a building is identified and a lease is secured, the corps will take over and hire contractors “in an exceptionally short amount of days.”
"Lancaster County stands ready to assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in their mission supporting the response to the CoVID-19 pandemic," the commissioners said.
