Crews begin work turning Westchester County Center into makeshift hospital

It is expected that it will take about ten days to get everything completed at the Westchester County Center.

News 12 Staff

Mar 30, 2020, 9:36 AM

Updated 1,486 days ago

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Crews began work this weekend to turn the Westchester County Center in White Plains into a makeshift hospital.
As the number of people infected by the coronavirus continues to rise, state officials say New York will need to more than double its capacity of hospital beds.
Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an initial four sites that were chosen to be converted into hospitals that included the county center.
It has the main arena and several other rooms plus a little theater on the second floor so there is plenty of space.
A contractor and crew, under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers, are doing the work. It is expected that it will take about 10 days to get everything completed.
There's no word yet as to how many hospital beds will be set up there or if this would be a hospital for COVID-19 patients or those needing medical treatment for non-coronavirus issues.
The Javits Center in Manhattan has been transformed into a 1,000 bed medical station for non-COVID-19 cases, staffed by more than 300 federal workers. That is expected to open up today.
A floating Navy hospital is expected to dock in New York this morning. The USNS Comfort holds about 1,000 hospital beds, has several operating rooms, and an onboard pharmacy.
Two SUNY colleges on Long Island will also be used as makeshift hospitals.
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