Officials Announce Plans For Field Hospital At South Florida Fairgrounds
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – APRIL 08: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center on April 08, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. Gov. DeSantis spoke about the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers converting the convention center into a field hospital with 400 regular hospital beds and 50 ICU beds, with the ability to scale up to 1,000 beds if needed, as the region prepares for a possible surge of coronavirus patients. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Officials unveiled plans on Wednesday to stage a field hospital at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach, according to ABC 25.
"Palm Beach County has to take into consideration many possible scenarios in response to emergencies," said Bill Johnson, the emergency management director. "Some of these responses require days of planning and setup and this requires us to implement a plan even before it is apparent that there is a need. This is a normal occurrence in emergency management and does not guarantee these worst-case scenarios will come to pass."
The state has reported nearly 42% available capacity in Florida, according to state officials. Palm Beach County currently has over 46% of hospital beds available.
The staged hospital will not be accessible to the public and will be used to take the pressure off of local hospitals, according to the report.
This is a developing story.
