Hospitals prepare for COVID-19 patient surge
UW Medicine hospitals are preparing for a surge of patients presenting with symptoms of COVID-19. Outside of its Emergency Department, Harborview Medical Center has set up tents patients reporting respiratory illness can be evaluated and kept apart from others with emergent needs. Doctors say this setup will allow clinicians to treat a higher number of patients quickly.
"It also allows us to bring together cohort patients into a similar area and that way we can make things more efficient for them to where they can get exactly what they need in a shorter period of time," said Dr. Steven Mitchell, medical director of Harborview's Emergency Department.
These sites will become operational over the weekend or early next week.