A shuttered Arizona hospital with empty beds awaits patients in the case of a coronavirus surge that overwhelms the capacity of other state health care facilities, officials said.
St. Luke’s Medical Center in Phoenix has 235 unused patient beds and can be activated within seven to 14 days, The Arizona Republic reported Tuesday.
Scaling up to full capacity would be accomplished in 25-bed increments as needed, state officials said.
St. Luke’s is ready to use as an “option of last resort,” Arizona Department of Health Services spokeswoman Holly Poynter said.
Following the Thanksgiving holiday, cases have spiked in Arizona and hospital leaders warn patient demand could exceed capacity this month.
The state reported a record of more than 12,300 additional COVID-19 cases Tuesday, with 90% of the state’s intensive care unit beds in use.
The 101-year-old St. Luke’s closed in November 2019 because the hospital was not drawing enough patients, owner Steward Health Care System LLC said.
The state has an operator contract for the facility through Virginia-based PAE Inc., which would “scale up the operation and staffing based on need,” Poynter said in an email.
“Staffing would be from beyond Arizona to avoid impacts to staffing at other state health care providers,” Poynter said.
State officials said in July that finding dedicated beds in nursing homes was a better way to decrease patient numbers in hospitals than placing them in St. Luke’s.
The state subsequently signed a contract with three long-term care facilities in Arizona owned and operated by The Ensign Group of California.
“From a patient advocacy standpoint, that is a much better place for our Arizonans to be than St. Luke’s,” health services department Director Cara Christ said at the time.
“St. Luke’s is there if we need it, and we are continuing to have security on it, to keep it operational,” Christ said. “We’re ready to go if we need it. We just think this is a better alternative.”
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
