Cashman Center, part of the Cultural Corridor, in downtown Las Vegas Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012.
Monday, March 30, 2020 | 6:30 p.m.
Lawmakers and health officials in Southern Nevada are considering two options to house overflow patients during the coronavirus pandemic.
Las Vegas city officials have offered hospitals access to the Cashman Center should they need extra space to treat an influx of COVID-19 patients, said city spokesperson David Riggleman. In addition, the Southern Nevada Health District announced Monday a plan to construct an alternate care facility for COVID-19 patients on its campus at 280 S. Decatur Blvd. The board of health will vote on the $3 million proposal, 75% of which would be funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, at an emergency meeting Tuesday morning.
City officials have been discussing with hospital leaders the possibility of using Cashman Center to house COVID-19 patients if hospitals run out of staffed beds, ICU beds or airborne infection isolation rooms, Riggleman said. Previously used as a convention center and now assigned for redevelopment, the Cashman Center could accommodate about 1,000 patients if needed, according to Riggleman.
The building has running water and a working HVAC system, and it is currently empty, so nothing would have to be removed, Riggleman said. Its parking lot is now being used as a temporary homeless shelter after a shelter run by Catholic Charities was forced to close due to a patron testing positive for coronavirus.
“We haven’t pulled the trigger and said, ‘Yes, we’re going to set up a hospital on this date,’” Riggleman said. “We’re just going to be prepared just in case.”
The health district’s proposed alternate care facility would extend 2,700 square feet and include space for 30 patient beds, a rendering shows. It would cost the health district an estimated $750,000-$800,000, some of which could be paid for by other government agencies, according to a petition by acting chief health officer Fermin Leguen and chief financial officer Ernest Blazzard submitted to the board of health.
With more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases reported in Nevada, the state could face a hospital bed shortage in the near future, some estimates indicate. As of Friday, 67% of the state’s staffed beds, 72% of ICU rooms and 51% of airborne infection rooms were occupied.
“We see the numbers in the United States and Nevada keep going up and up of people testing positive. So, if it’s a situation where our local facilities are overwhelmed, what can we do and where can we have people go?” Riggleman said.
