The opening dates for the temporary hospital facilities in Denver and Loveland are being pushed back again.
Originally expected to open in late April, the hospital at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver is now projected to open on June 4 with the facility at The Ranch in Loveland scheduled for an opening date of June 11.
"We will evaluate whether we need them or not but they are targeted to have them ready to go if we need them," said Kevin Kline, the state of Colorado Director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Officials have again reduced the bed capacity at each facility.
"We are now shooting for 200 beds at The Ranch complex and 250 at the convention center," Kline said. "We can scale that up and we have built that into the infrastructure there if necessary."
Right now, Kline it is possible the facilities might not ever open.
"We don't want to pay for staffing them if we're not going to use them so we're going to be judicious with our use. We're hoping that we can continue to flatten the curve so we don't overwhelm the hospital system and need to use them."
But Kline said the hospitals will be available if a second wave of coronavirus comes.
"We want to keep the ability to turn them on in short order through what would be the next wave in the fall," Kline said. "We will watch the numbers. We will keep in touch with the epidemiological data, with the hospital utilization data and make the determination based on that data. It really comes down to making sure we're ready if we need it."
Kline was part of a state teleconference on Thursday, along with Betsy Markey, the Executive Director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT).
The full teleconference is below.
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