- Design firm Stantec (TSX:STN) will provide design and engineering services to build an Alternative Care Facility (ACF) for COVID-19 patients
- The project will convert Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Centre into a temporary field hospital
- Stantec hopes that the facility will relieve the pressure on America’s struggling healthcare system by freeing up beds
- Construction of the first 500 beds has already been completed, with the facility due for completion by April 24
- Stantec’s share price is down 0.67 per cent, and is currently trading for C$39.95 per share
Design firm Stantec (TSX:STN) will provide design and engineering services to build an Alternative Care Facility (ACF) for COVID-19 patients.
Stantec is working on for a project that will convert the McCormick Place Convention Centre into a temporary field hospital. Located in Chicago, McCormick Place is the largest convention centre in the entirety of North America.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will direct the conversion. Walsh Construction is the contractor for the project.
Once completed, the facility will spread across three of the convention centre’s halls. There, medical professionals will be able to treat up to 3,000 low-to-moderate severity COVID-19 patients. The field hospital will separate patients by their required level of care, and to control the spread of infection.
The Alternative Care Facility will hopefully relieve the immense pressure which America’s healthcare system is under. By taking in less serious cases, the ACF will free up hospital beds for those with more severe symptoms.
This will be essential as the United States braces for more cases of positive COVID-19 diagnosis. The country now has the highest number of deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
By April 3, the facility’s first 500 beds had been constructed. The temporary field hospital should be complete by April 24.
Stantec’s healthcare principal, Douglas King, commented on the necessity of the project.
“We need to quickly and efficiently leverage our existing spaces and infrastructure, to let our healthcare professionals focus on providing care in this time of crisis.
“Our team at Stantec is proud to support this mission in our local Chicago community. We hope it will serve as a model across the country,” he said.
Stantec’s share price is down 0.67 per cent, and trading for C$39.95 per share as of 12:32pm EST.