The University of Mississippi Medical Center is opening its second field hospital in a parking garage as the Jackson-based system sees a surge in COVID-19 patients, according to Mississippi Today.
Plans for the second hospital came days after the medical center opened the first 50-bed field hospital Aug. 13 in the system's parking garage.
The new hospital will be built and staffed by Samaritan's Purse, a humanitarian aid organization. It will include 30 to 50 beds, with five to 10 of those being intensive care unit beds. None of the other field hospital's beds are ICU level.
Alan Jones, MD, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, warned on Aug. 11 that the record-breaking COVID-19 surge has put the Mississippi hospital system on the brink of "failure."