DENVER — Colorado Convention Center in Denver is currently being converted to a COVID-19 medical facility, according to Governer Jared Polis.
Last week the Governor provided an update on the four-tier system that will ensure hospitals can provide the appropriate level of care to patients and handle the coming surge. The Colorado Convention Center will be a Tier 3 facility, meaning it will care for ambulatory sub-acute care patients.
The Convention Center will be able to accommodate nearly 2,000 patients as construction began over 48 hours ago, with workers who are mainly from Colorado. The facility at the Convention Center is expected to be operational in late April.
"The conversion of the Colorado Convention Center is an important step in creating more capacity in our health care system as part of our response to COVID-19,” said Governor Polis. “It will help protect Colorado’s ability to treat the most seriously sick by allowing hospitals to move less serious cases to the convention center and therefore make critical care available for those who need it most.”
The center will have the capability to to treat cases that are recovering from critical care, but aren’t able to return home, while hospitals can focus their attention and resources on those who are more critically ill.
The state does hope that the facility will not have to be used or will be used minimally. The Governor noted that the state is establishing a similar alternate care site in Loveland at the Ranch complex.
