After COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China, health officials created more than a dozen temporary hospitals in existing buildings to expand the city’s capacity to treat infected patients. By admitting all patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms and others who were exposed to the disease, the temporary specialty hospitals reduced the number of patients seeking care at comprehensive hospitals. The temporary facilities also allowed health personnel to centralize the management of COVID-19 patients and reduce virus transmission routes. Health officials used a replicable five-step process to get each hospital up and running. According to a March 27 article in Anesthesiology, Wuhan’s temporary hospitals played a key role in addressing the COVID-19 outbreak and “will hopefully provide a blueprint for the management of future epidemiologic disasters." (HealthLeaders Media story, 3/31/20)
