Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the state is scouting additional new sites for temporary hospitals, with a goal of having a 1,000-plus patient overflow facility in each NYC borough as well as Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties. These new additions, together with the temporary hospitals that are being built at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and locations at SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Old Westbury and the Westchester Convention Center, are aimed at building thousands of new beds to bolster existing hospital capacity, with the goal of being open to patients in early- to mid-April. The state is also preparing college dormitories and hotels for emergency beds.
The Governor also announced that an additional 12,000 healthcare workers, including retirees and students, have signed up to volunteer to work as part of the state’s surge healthcare force during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the total number of volunteers to more than 52,000. Additionally, more than 8,600 mental health professionals, including individuals from other states, have now signed up to provide free online mental health services. New Yorkers can call the state’s hotline at 1-844-863-9314 to schedule a free appointment.
“We know at this point that any scenario will overwhelm the capacity of our healthcare system and we are continuing to work aggressively to increase our state’s hospital capacity and flatten the curve,” Governor Cuomo said. “Our top priority is finding more beds for patients and getting the ventilators we need to ensure our most vulnerable patients are being treated properly, and we are actively scouting new locations for temporary hospital sites. This situation is not easy, but easy times don’t forge character — hard times do – and we will get through this together and be better and stronger people for it.”
Finally, the Governor confirmed 6,448 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 37,258 confirmed cases in New York State.
