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The Vermont National Guard was recently tasked with rebuilding a 250-bed field hospital in Essex Junction, Vermont. The structure, which was initially built last April, was taken down in midsummer when cases from the COVID-19 pandemic had leveled in the area.
Now, as cases continue to grow, the surge facility needed to be re-erected.
The Project
The Guard reportedly kept all of the materials needed for the space in storage nearby.
“It’s the exact same,” said Mathew Lehman, a civil engineer with the Vermont Air National Guard. “It’s the same sinks, the same wood, a lot of the same electrical, plumbing materials.”
The site was rebuilt over a long weekend at the end of last month, with a team of 35 crew members working 10-hour shifts to get the structure completed.
The site occupies two wings of the Champlain Expo, with 50-bed pods each separated with a nurse’s station and supply closet. One of the pods is specific for COVID cases, though hospital officials say that the different dimensions of the space is crucial and that it can be used for whatever the hospital needs.
The facility reportedly cost about $200,000 to build.
Previous Field Hospitals
Late Spring is when the majority of the U.S. saw its temporary healthcare facilities completed. In May, Holt Construction announced that it, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bergen County and FEMA, successfully completed a temporary hospital in just 14 days.
“The two fully-equipped tents, the first of its kind for Army Corps temporary facility construction standards, will serve as a treatment facility for acute, non-COVID related patients due to the influx of COVID-positive patients in the main building,” the company said.
“The temporary hospital will serve an additional 100 patients total and is located in a large parking lot adjacent to BNBMC’s main building with a covered walkway linking the two facilities.”
Meanwhile, around the same time, in New York, Los Angeles-based construction company Aecom completed the construction of two temporary hospitals in Queens and Brooklyn.
Aecom was awarded the contract with the New York City Department of Design and Construction on March 31. While the financials of the deal were not disclosed, Aecom provided construction management, emergency engineering and grant management services for the project.
The hospitals include a 750-bed facility at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and a 450-bed facility at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which began taking patients on April 10.
View all of PaintSquare Daily News' coverage on COVID-19, here.
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