Just four weeks after opening, the COVID-19 field hospital at the Santa Clara Convention Center has shut its doors.
The facility, which opened in early April, closed up shop on April 28.
State and federal officials established the center at a time when the region lacked the capacity to handle an expected surge in COVID-19 patients. Thus far, that surge has not arrived, which health officials credit to the collective stay-at-home actions.
With 250 beds, demand at the center never got close to maxing out. Over the 23 days of operation, the facility treated 20 patients.
County officials maintain that health care surge capacity remains, despite the state closing the field hospital.
“Surge planning is a regular, key component of every hospital’s emergency plan and response, and is a core component of the County’s planning,” the county told Cupertino Today in a statement.
Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department tracks hospital and surge capacity, making the data public on its dashboard. As of Monday, there are 102 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the county. 33 of those are in ICU beds. Approximately 40 percent of the county’s ICU beds remain available for use.
City of Santa Clara officials said the convention center “is undergoing a deep cleaning.”
Photos of the cleaning are below, courtesy of the City of Santa Clara.
