Hospital Built by the Army in Seattle Has Not Treated a Single Patient and is Now Being Taken Down
Jose Nino
|
Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced on Wednesday, April 8, 2020 that he would be returning a field hospital that was built in Seattle’s CenturyLink Field Event Center to the federal government.
The hospital was ostensibly built to help the health care system fend off the Wuhan Virus.
In recent days, Inslee has pointed to more favorable numbers in terms of virus infections in the state. At one point, Washington led the nation in terms of cases and deaths. As of April 8, there were 9,097 confirmed cases of the Wuhan Virus in Washington, along with 421 deaths.
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation even suggested in a recent report that Washington may have reached its peak for Wuhan Virus hospitalizations.
On top of returning the field hospital, Inslee announced on April 5 that he was returning 400 ventilators to the federal government’s national stockpile in order to help other states more impacted by the Wuhan Virus.
In his statement made on April 8, the governor said the move to take down the field hospital will allow the facility to “be deployed to another state facing a more significant need.”
According to Inslee spokesman Mike Faulk, the field hospital never treated a single patient.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan believed that Inslee’s announcement was the right decision, because the region’s hospitals appear to have enough of an infrastructure to handle these cases.
“While Seattle fought hard for these resources, it’s clear other communities are in desperate need of this high-quality medical facility and personnel,” Durkan stated. “This virus knows no borders, and we must care for the sick and vulnerable, regardless of any city, county, or state line.”
This case shows how certain parts of the country are not as impacted by pandemic as others.
Such developments vindicate President Donald Trump’s level-headed approach to addressing the Wuhan Virus pandemic by giving states more leeway in handling the situation.
A one-size-fits-all approach would have resulted in potential abuses of civil liberties and economic power grabs.
Share: