Gov. Jared Polis on Friday unveiled the beginnings of a makeshift field hospital, set in the heart of the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver, that could hold up to 1,962 COVID-19 patients who are well on their way to recovery. 

The facility is being built under the auspices of the Army Corps of Engineers, who gave reporters a tour of the facility Friday.

Polis also responded to questions about an outbreak at the JBS meat processing plant in Greeley, where two workers have now died, and about the rising number of outbreaks at nursing homes, assisted living facilities and rehab centers. As of Thursday, there were at least 61 centers identified as having outbreaks of COVID-19.

The field hospital is part of the state’s crisis standards of care (CSC), Polis told reporters Friday. He said he hopes it will never have to be used. “I don’t expect this to be full nor completely empty,” the governor said.

About 300 people from the Army Corps of Engineers plus contractors from ECC and Hensel Phelps began working on the facility’s design on Monday, according to Peter Sturdivant, chief of construction for the Army Corps of Engineers’ Omaha district, one of two districts involved in making the field hospital a reality. Initial construction began Wednesday morning. Sturdivant said that the Army Corps and the federal Health and Human Services department have a conceptual design for what the patient rooms would look like as well as nurses’ stations, and that was fine-tuned for the available space at the convention center. Six exhibit halls are being used for the hospital, all on the convention center’s second floor. 

Patients at the hospital are considered “sub-acute ambulatory care;” they still need to be watched by medical staff but are past the worst of the illness, Polis explained. Sturdivant said during the tour that making the facility only for ambulatory care negates the need for non-ambulatory care that would bring in Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. 

Each room is 10′ x 10′. There will be no ceilings in the room, Sturdivant said, because that would then require separate sprinkler systems for each room. The  rooms will also have oxygen available through a system of pipes and wires throughout the facility.

Sturdivant explained that the oxygen system relieves the facility of having to use oxygen tanks for each patient, which are in short supply nationwide. The beds will be medical grade but somewhat “austere” and not the Stryker-type beds commonly seen in hospitals, he said. Rooms will be closed off by curtains rather than doors, which allows nurses to keep an eye on patients and still provide sufficient privacy.

In addition to oxygen hookups, rooms also have a full complement of electrical outlets and lighting. 

The facility will have areas for food service, break rooms and lockers for the staff and separate entrance and discharge areas for patients. 

A nurse’s station is positioned so that the ratio of nurses to patients is about 1:20. Nursing care will be provided by a combination of volunteers and paid nurses from healthcare staffing agencies, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The state will cover 25% of the cost with the Federal Emergency Management Administration picking up the other 75%. The price tag begins at $5 million just for design and concept work; the full cost of the facility is not yet known, Sturdivant said.

The first 250 beds will be ready for medical services by April 18; the full build-out for the entire 1,962 beds, should be completed by April 26. 

A second field hospital is in the works for the Loveland area, Polis said.

The governor also unveiled another state website devoted to COVID-19 resources, stayathomeco.colorado.gov, which provides information on stay-at-home wellness, information and entertainment.