ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp announced Saturday that he will work with the coronavirus task force to add nearly 300 hospital beds during the anticipated COVID-19 patient surge.
Kemp announced he plans to deploy four temporary medical units totaling 88 beds and will expand capacity at two reopened health care facilities for another 208 beds.
One temporary unit will be in Rome, one in Albany, and one in Atlanta, and one more will be deployed based on community needs. The units will open in mid-April.
RELATED STORIES:
- Q&A: Here are the rules for Georgia’s shelter in place order
- What is an essential business and how to report companies violating shelter-in-place order
- Statewide shelter in place goes into effect at 6 p.m. Here’s what you need to know
Kemp will also reopen the Phoebe North Campus in Albany and the HCA Eastside Medical Center in Snellville.
“These projects have been underway for several weeks based on modeling and epidemiological recommendations, and we are following leads on several more proposals to expand healthcare capacity as we prepare for patient surge later this month,” Kemp said in a statement. “At every stage of decision-making, our team is consulting with public health and emergency management experts in the private and public sectors. Together, we are working around the clock to prepare for future needs in our fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia. In the days ahead, we will finalize additional projects to expand our capacity and get critically needed resources to frontline medical providers.”
© 2020 Cox Media Group
