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McCormick Place COVID-19 Alternate Care Facility: Supply and Logistics
Walsh Construction completed the temporary conversion of Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center into an Alternate Care Facility (ACF) for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients on April 24, 2020. The unprecedented facility has the capacity to treat up to 3,000 low-to-moderate acuity patients across three of the convention center’s halls, where patients are separated by the level of care required.
In just under 26 days from project award to project completion, Walsh converted approximately 1.5 million square feet of convention space into a facility focused on patient care, infection control, fire protection and life safety. Advantages included greater patient density enabling a reduction in healthcare workers and faster construction time as well as greater use of prefabricated construction (e.g. portable shower trailers, modular support service spaces, scaffolding for utilities, etc.).
Walsh partnered with Stantec and ESD to design an independent HVAC, electrical, mechanical and medical gas system in less than 48 hours and Walsh Logistics immediately contacted the medical subcontractors to start the process of building and shipping the necessary assemblies.