CALGARY -- Alberta Health Services says a temporary healthcare facility, aimed at treating patients with COVID-19 is finished.
The Sprung Pandemic Response facility has been set up outside the Peter Lougheed Centre in northeast Calgary.
Health officials say the new care centre, which took just under three weeks to build, will support care for up to 67 patients if needed.
Alberta's Health Minister Tyler Shandro says the project is just another example of health-care workers coming together to fight the virus.
"We have seen countless examples from across the province of teams and individuals that have worked together and supported one another in ways both big and small to help in the fight against COVID-19," he said in a release.
Health officials say the construction of the facility was started in response to large amount of cases of the illness in the Calgary Zone. There were 3,217 cases reported in the region Friday and 60 of those are in hospital, including 13 in the ICU.
"This initiative was undertaken to ensure we have capacity in the Calgary Zone in the event we see a spike in COVID-19 cases that require hospitalization. I’d like to thank Sprung Structures for its generous donation that will help AHS respond to this public health emergency," said Dr. Verna Yiu, AHS president and CEO.
The building was created through a donation from Sprung Structures, an Alberta company.
WestJet helps out with field centre
Calgary-based WestJet has also does its part in helping stock the new pandemic field hospital. The airlines says it supplied the facility with 115 galley carts that are normally put to use onboard the company's planes.
With most of those now grounded because of the pandemic, the carts are now being used to carry medical supplies at the 766 square-metre building.
The company says the first shipment of carts arrived on April 23 and, even if they are not used there, WestJet says the galley carts are being given to AHS as a gift.
