Boston Hope Field Hospital No Longer Taking New Coronavirus Patients
BOSTON (CBS) - As Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker declared "the surge is behind us" Tuesday, he announced the state's largest field hospital for the coronavirus pandemic will no longer take new patients.
The temporary hospital at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center in the Seaport, named Boston Hope, opened on April 10 with 1,000 beds for the expected surge of COVID-19 patients at hospitals in the city.
According to Baker, it has treated "more than 700 COVID-19 patients on the hospital side and has also served as a respite site for homeless and housing insecure folks on the other side."
As of Tuesday, there were 36 patients remaining at the field hospital.
"The facility will remain in place until all existing patients are safely discharged, and the beds will be available at the facility throughout this summer should we need it," the governor said.
"We're grateful for the partnership and coordination that went into standing up this facility and are especially thankful for the many folks who worked to take care of the folks on both sides of that operation."
"Boston Hope has been the most significant event ever held the Convention Center," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said. "I want to thank all of everyone who had something to do with this."
Field hospitals at the DCU Center in Worcester and UMass Lowell were closed last week.
Earlier this month, the field hospital on Cape Cod closed without seeing any coronavirus patients.
The only other field hospital still accepting patients is at UMass Dartmouth.
