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Sports training facility at the Newtown Athletic Club transforms into field hospital
FOX 29's Brad Sattin has details on a field hospital in Bucks County.
NEWTOWN, Pa. - A sports training facility at the Newtown Athletic Club — the NAC — is transforming from a 35,000 square foot baseball, soccer and lacrosse field into a medical/surgical hospital. The field hospital is expected to be complete by Friday.
Owner Jim Worthington donated his massive sports facility free-of-charge.
“The NAC has always been about helping the community and making a difference and making lives better and I can’t think of a better way to chip in and help our community," he told FOX 29.
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Bucks County Commission chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia added, “He called me a month ago maybe and offered the use of this building and has waiting patiently to decide if we needed, and in fact, we have reached the point where we believe that we need it."
There's no guarantee that the additional 80 to 100 beds will even be needed, as Bucks County’s six hospitals still have more than 400 med-surge beds and 50 ICU beds available.
"We don’t know that we will need this facility, but the time that we know we will need it is not the time to get ready for it. The time to get ready is now," Bucks County Director of Emergency Services Scott Forster said.
The facility would serve both COVID-19 and non-COVID patients, those with underlying medical conditions, including diabetics and those who require oxygen or intravenous fluids.
“Whatever it would take to alleviate some of the stress on the hospitals when they are at capacity and when they are surging that’s what this facility will be used for," Foster said.
Details are still being worked out but while the state of Pennsylvania and Army Corps of Engineers consider another location in northern Bucks, county officials decided there’s no reason to wait.
“We think that we need to continue moving forward to ensure that we have the capability to take care of our residents," Foster added.
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