Colorado officials are working to extend the lease for at least one overflow site as COVID-19 rages, according to The Colorado Sun.
The state has three alternative care sites, including Colorado Convention Center in Denver, which has 80 beds and can expand to 2,000, Micki Trost, spokesperson for the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told Becker's. The other two sites are the St. Mary-Corwin site in Pueblo, which has 25 beds and can expand to 120, and St. Anthony's North hospital's 84th Avenue facility in Westminster, which has 25 beds and can expand to 80.
None of the alternative care sites are open or activated. The convention center lease is through Dec. 31, but state officials are working on an extension through the end of March, based on COVID-19 modeling and daily briefings from the hospitals on their capacity, said Ms. Trost. Leases for the other two overflow facilities are through mid-January, and the state will determine at the end of December whether extensions are needed.
The state seeks to avoid opening alternative care sites, and hospitals have activated their own surge plans to boost capacity, according to the Sun. But officials are preparing by keeping the options available.
As of Dec. 13, state hospitals reported 1,513 patients hospitalized for confirmed COVID-19 and 97 patients hospitalized for suspected COVID-19.