PHOENIX (AP) — Officials from Arizona's health department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent hours Wednesday scouring a shuttered Phoenix hospital to see how quickly it could be running if a surge of coronavirus cases hits.
The state is looking to reopen two closed Phoenix hospitals and convert a specialty hospital. It may need to add up to 13,000 new beds to supplement the 16,000 available now.
That means boosting hospital capacity, reopening closed ones and adding big sites at large facilities. The dire predictions come as the number of cases statewide reached 401 Wednesday, up from just 30 a week before.
