Wow. That's something new I learned. I mean, some people are still getting sick from other stuff. Would it be physically or fiscally impractical to do something like trailers or other temporary buildings for routine and/or non-virus stuff? People still get appendicitis and broken arms and stuff, yeah?
This is pretty much the thinking behind the deployment of the Navy hospital ships to NYC and LA and the deployment of Army field hospitals to various places: provide the non-COVID care in a temporary setting. Your typical hospital is still seeing emergencies, OB and urgent medical issues as space and staff are available. But most of them don't have the money or resources to set up temporary care facilities in a field-type setting.
An Army field hospital from Tennessee is setting up in downtown Seattle at the events center of the football stadium. I was watching the CO give an interview on the local TV, and he said they will be set up to do everything from trauma surgery to broken bones to diabetes. He didn't say anything about OB or ICU beds. My second wife, the chief corpsman, was one of the leading CPOs for a field hospital out of San Diego, and she said it was very much geared toward trauma and urgent care, which makes sense in the military field setting.
My niece just signed up a few months back with the Army Reserve, and was direct commission as a first lieutenant as a CRNA. She works for the University of Pittsburgh medical center, and she says as one of the most junior anesthesiology personnel, she has essentially been furloughed, and she actually hopes she will be called up and sent somewhere. The Army is very big on CRNAs.