TOLEDO, Ohio — Because northwest Ohio hospitals currently have sufficient capacity to care for COVID-19 patients and are refining plans to quickly add more within their facilities if needed, two emergency planning groups, in partnership with the state, have agreed to postpone the build out of downtown Toledo’s SeaGate Convention Centre as an Alternate Care Facility, the partners announced.
The Northwest Ohio Healthcare Emergency Management Coalition and the Lucas County Emergency Operations Center are continuing with planning to use SeaGate Convention Centre if needed as an ACF, where patients would receive hospital care from healthcare professionals.
The SeaGate ACF would provide a “relief valve” for hospitals in the region, allowing them to care for the most critically ill patients in their facilities, according to the coalition and EOC.
The groups have asked the state to execute construction and leasing contracts for SeaGate Convention Centre so that the planning for the ACF’s design and occupancy also can continue.
In northwest Ohio’s 32 hospitals in 18 counties, 47% of the beds that would be used to care for COVID- 19 patients are vacant, and 73% of ventilators in the region are not in use, according to a news release on Tuesday. The bed vacancy rate does not include additional beds to be added at hospital facilities in the region as part of their surge plans, which will be triggered if needed, added the Northwest Ohio Healthcare Emergency Management Coalition, which oversees the planning and resources for the 18-county region’s emergency and disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.
The coalition, the EOC, and other partners are monitoring hospital capacity data so they can respond to any spikes of COVID-19 cases throughout the region.