EL PASO, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sunday that the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) is establishing an alternate care site in El Paso to expand hospital capacity as the region deals with a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
According to the governor's office, the facility will provide the area with additional hospital beds, medical equipment and medical personnel to assist with COVID-19 response. The facility is set to open this week at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. It will have a capacity of 50 beds with the capability to expand to 100 beds if needed.
On Wednesday, TDEM released photos of the facility:
TDEM and the Texas Department of State Health Services have also deployed auxiliary medical units (AMU) to provide onsite surge capacity for local hospitals, at the director of the governor. The State is providing a fully-supplied and staffed AMU that can provide up to 100 beds on-site at a local hospital.
Abbott also announced Sunday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has activated additional resources to help combat COVID-19 in the El Paso region. The resources – which include two 35-person Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) and a Trauma Critical Care Team (TCC) – will arrive this week.
The HHS is also deploying Regional Emergency Coordinators from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to El Paso and to the Texas State Operations Center to help with the coordination of federal assets to support this mission.
Sunday's announcements come one day after Abbott asked the federal government to use the William Beaumont Army Medical Center on Fort Bliss to help expand hospital capacity needs in the El Paso area.
"The alternate care site and auxiliary medical units will reduce the strain on hospitals in El Paso as we contain the spread of COVID-19 in the region," Abbott said. "We continue to work closely with local officials in El Paso and provide resources to reduce hospitalizations, mitigate the spread and keep the people of El Paso safe."
The State has already provided over 900 medical personnel to El Paso, some of which will staff the AMU. Dozens of Austin-area nurses were deployed to El Paso earlier this week.
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