Las Vegas Convention Center largest hospital backup plan to date

Clark County government and health officials announced a plan Tuesday to convert the Las Vegas Convention Center into a low-level alternative care site capable of holding 900 patients if regional hospitals reach capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is a collaborative effort with local hospital groups and represents the latest, and largest, effort to date to reserve space for patients if hospitals become overcrowded.

“This is really important that the public know that we are prepared, we are ready,” county Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said at a news conference.

But officials were simultaneously optimistic that social distancing and other strict public health guidelines were working to control the coronavirus outbreak, saying there was no present need to activate the convention center.

County Fire Chief John Steinbeck, who oversees the county’s regional emergency response, said the center could be ready in four days if figures showed that less critical patients would need to be moved from overcrowded hospitals.

“What we do know is we have a consultation with each one of the hospitals every day to say what are your levels at, what are your needs and what are your projected needs,” Steinbeck said. “Right now our indication is keep them in our hospitals because our hospitals are working.”

Still, Dr. Fermin Leguen, the chief health officer with the Southern Nevada Health District, warned that projections were still difficult to grasp.

“I have to say that at this point there is not any reliable information in terms of trends of whether the disease is going away or staying the same,” he said.

So in the event there is a surge of COVID-19 patients in regional hospitals, the convention center will “play an instrumental role” in protecting hospital capacity, according to University Medical Center CEO Mason VanHouweling.

Based on a plan designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which consulted with local officials, the site would be initially built out with 450 beds. The first phase calls for 300 beds on the first floor of the South Hall and 150 more on the second floor, county officials said.

It would be managed jointly by local emergency management officials and UMC, and staffed by UMC employees and volunteers with the Medical Reserve Corps of Southern Nevada.

The first floor would have medical stations, equipment and staffing to care for COVID-19 patients who need monitoring in a medical setting but not IV therapy or intensive care, officials said. The second floor would be set aside for patients who do not have the virus but require post-operative care before they can be discharged.

The plan could be expanded to include 900 beds if necessary, officials said.

At more than 900,000 square feet, the South Hall in the convention center provided officials with an ideal space for an alternative care site not only for its size, they said, but for its access and adaptability.

Under the plan, the center would be built out with a temporary network of drapes and dividers, and outfitted with beds, medical stations, equipment and supplies.

Excluding a 500-bed isolation and quarantine complex for homeless individuals at Cashman Center, the county has also secured nearly 200 beds thus far at three sites to ease pressure at hospitals.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.

A previous version of this story misstated how many patients a temporary hospital at the Las Vegas Convention Center could hold.