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Army Corps Will Turn McCormick Place into Makeshift Hospital
McCormick Place, the nation’s largest convention facility, will be turned into a makeshift hospital to treat COVID-19 victims, the Army Corp of Engineers’ Commander General Todd Semonite said Friday. The Corps aims to have the temporary facility set up to treat about 3,000 victims of the coronavirus by about April 24.
With help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hall C at McCormick Place will be equipped to treat 500 people; Hall B would house 750 patients, and Hall A would have about 1,800 patients requiring more intensive care.
“Somebody once said, ‘Let’s go build a hospital in the middle of a parking lot.’ You can’t do that in two or three weeks, and we don’t have any more time than two or three weeks,” Semonite said.
“McCormick Place’s infrastructure—with water, electricity and sewage service easily accessible—makes it possible to set up a medical facility there,” he added.
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