Atrium, Novant ask Mecklenburg to set up COVID-19 field hospital at UNC Charlotte
The leaders of the Charlotte region’s two biggest hospitals say they may run out of space to treat COVID-19 patients in the near future — and could see roughly 3,000 more patients than they have beds for.
On Thursday, Atrium Health and Novant Health asked Mecklenburg County to “take immediate action” to set up a field hospital on the UNC Charlotte campus.
“The extent of how fast COVID-19 will spread and how many beds we will need is directly dependent on how well our community observes the physical distancing and stay-at-home orders in place today,” Atrium CEO Gene Woods and Novant CEO Carl Armato said in a joint letter to the county.
Earlier Thursday, Woods said the hospital system is bracing for a surge of COVID-19 patients in mid-April to mid-May.
Woods said the Charlotte-based hospital system has put together a predictive modeling system to analyze the spread of COVID-19.
And that model shows Atrium will need “significantly more” hospital beds than it currently has, Woods said at Atrium’s Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday.
“There’s no perfect models,” Woods said. “And in some ways, it’s just like forecasting a hurricane. There’s always a variance in pinpointing the exact path of the storm.”
‘Every single nook and cranny’
Atrium has already increased bed capacity in hospitals by postponing non-essential surgeries. But that decision came with “significant financial consequences,” Woods said.
The board approved a resolution Thursday to secure a revolving line of credit that would allow Atrium to borrow up to $750 million to finance operations and improvements related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Woods said Atrium has also added beds in existing hospitals.
“We’ve opened up every single nook and cranny in our current facility to expand our bed capacity by approximately 50% to accommodate the impending increase in patients,” Woods said Thursday.
Atrium is working to make sure employees have essential protective equipment as hospitals nationwide see shortages, Woods said. He said the hospital system is using “creative solutions” to extend its current supply, including decontaminating N95 respirator masks using ultraviolet light.
Woods said compliance with the stay at home order is key in mitigating patient surge in hospitals.
Atrium infectious disease expert Katie Passaretti said it could take two to three weeks to see the effectiveness of social distancing. Mecklenburg’s order went into effect March 26, and the state order went into effect Monday.
“The more people that stay home, the better the overall situation will be,” Passaretti told the board Thursday.
Also Thursday, Atrium board members authorized changing the hospital’s 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan to include some of the lessened restrictions on retirement plans from Congress’ recently passed COVID-19 relief legislation. The resolution could permit some distributions and loans and delay required minimum distributions to “assist employees with dealing with the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” according to Atrium.
UNC Charlotte dorms may be used
UNC Charlotte has offered six of its dorms to become emergency space under state and local efforts to combat COVID-19.
It’s unclear whether the dorms would be used as emergency medical facilities or as housing for first-responders to a disease that has killed close to 50,000 people worldwide and is currently ripping through the Carolinas. Mecklenburg County alone has reported 500 cases and growing. As of Thursday morning, 16 N.C. deaths have been reported.
The dorms, in what is known as the university’s “South Village,” have been unoccupied since the university suspended traditional classes on March 11.
In a message Thursday morning to students, faculty and other parts of the UNCC community, Chancellor Phil Dubois said the school’s role has been broadened by the pandemic.
“We are in an international crisis. We are being asked to live, study, and work differently,” he wrote. “We must also think differently about our responsibilities to each other and the larger community during this time, which means sometimes stepping forward to serve the Charlotte region in new ways.”
Decisions on how or whether the dorms will be used have not been made, said Colleen Penhall, UNCC’s chief communications officer.
“This is part of the (state’s) planning process to identify potential resources should they be needed,” Penhall said. “Should the decision be made to use any UNC Charlotte facilities, available details will be communicated at that time.”
Dubois’s announcement is tied to an ongoing effort by the N.C. Emergency Operations Center to amass a statewide list of available venues that could be used in efforts to combat the spreading medical emergency.
The UNCC dorms in question are Holshouser, Hunt, Laurel, Levine, Sanford and Scott. Dubois said the school has received a waiver from the state and county “stay-at-home” orders to allow the former residents of the six residency halls to collect their belongings.
Those students have been contacted. However, the campus’s other dorms will remain closed until the pandemic directives have been lifted.
Dubois, who is scheduled to retire next month, said the school owes a debt to the many first-responders who flooded the campus last April after a classroom shooter killed two students and wounded others.
“We also cannot forget that those who may need our help — medical professionals, city, county and state officials, first responders, our neighbors — are the same people who came running to assist us a little less than a year ago when we needed them most,” Dubois wrote.
“It’s now our turn to help them.”
Other Charlotte facilities
How many other local venues might be involved is uncertain. Mark Jerrell, a Mecklenburg County commissioner, said there is no plan in place to use the Charlotte Convention Center, which is scheduled to host the Republican National Convention in August.
A spokesman for the Charlotte Motor Speedway said Thursday that the facility has not been contacted.
Charlotte Hornets president Fred Whifield said he hasn’t been contacted by the city about any use of the city-owned Spectrum Center if there was an emergency need, such as setting up a temporary hospital. Whitfield said the organization would be happy to help if the need arises.
In response Thursday to Observer questions about whether any venues have been lined up as emergency options, the county’s Joint Information Center said no decision has been made.
“We are in constant communication with our hospital systems throughout this incident,” the information center’s statement said. “Should the decision be made to use any local facilities, available details will be communicated at that time.”
Other state agencies also are taking part in the search.
Mike Sprayberry of the N.C. Division of Emergency Management said Thursday that the state has the federal go-ahead to use hotels, dorms and other facilities to shelter those who have been exposed to the coronavirus, have tested positive but don’t need hospital care or are awaiting test results.
If the state plan receives approval, the state would be reimbursed for 75 percent of its costs, Sprayberry said.
“If we think we’re going to have a big surge of patients who need assistance or need to be kept in a place that does not necessarily need to be in a hospital, this would be a good solution for us to keep people in isolation,” Sprayberry said.
Staff writers Jim Morrill, Bruce Henderson and Rick Bonnell contributed.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 12:30 PM.
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