Portion of the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, US is set to be converted into an Alternate Care Facility (ACF) for novel COVID-19 (coronavirus) patients. The facility will have the capacity to treat up to 3,000 low-to-moderate acuity patients across three of the convention center’s halls, where patients will be separated by level of care required. Stantec, a global integrated design firm, is providing design and engineering services while Walsh Construction is the contractor for the project.
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Relieving pressure on the hospital system
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) in association with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will direct the conversion of McCormick Place into a facility focused on patient care, infection control, fire protection, and life safety. The ACF is designed to relieve pressure on the hospital system by freeing up beds for more patients with severe COVID-19 cases in anticipation of the surge in positive COVID-19 diagnoses to come.
According to Douglas King, AIA, NCARB, ACHA healthcare principal at Stantec, there is need to quickly and efficiently leverage the existing spaces and infrastructure, to allow healthcare professionals to focus on providing care in this time of crisis. “Our team at Stantec is proud to support this mission in our local Chicago community, and we hope it will serve as a model across the country,” he added.
Stantec is supporting rapid response solutions by healthcare organizations during the COVID-19 crisis. The company’s health sector team has programmed, designed, and planned some of the most complex healthcare solutions in the world. The temporary field hospital is expected to be complete by April 24, while construction on the first 500 beds was completed on April 3.
