$1.8 million/month for empty hospital beds
Observations from a nurse
Colorado's makeshift COVID-19 hospital still sits empty, to the tune of $60,000 a day
By: Russell Haythorn
Posted 10:43 PM, Oct 01, 2020
and last updated 5:52 PM, Jan 05, 2021
DENVER -- As several Colorado cities and towns look to cost-cutting measures to offset the devastating impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the state of Colorado continues to shell out millions in tax dollars for a field hospital that has never been used.
Not once.
Hotels, restaurants and other businesses downtown are struggling to survive while the Colorado Convention Center seems to be buffered from the chaos and gloomy economic outlook.
“It’s what I call the state’s insurance policy for our health care system,” said Mike Willis, director of the Colorado Emergency Operations Center.
Who wants an insurance policy costing millions with a ZERO % chance of need?
Willis says the 250 empty beds inside the Colorado Convention Center are the equivalent of having home, auto or health care insurance.
“You have it and hope you never need it,” Willis said.
Wonder how much money Willis makes?
When the coronavirus crisis started last spring, cases in Colorado did spike.
Yes, I counted up to 10 cases once or twice from the hospital census report.
At that time, the state started building an overflow care center in the Colorado Convention Center. The care center was constructed in the event that hospital beds would reach capacity and COVID-19 patients needed somewhere else to recover.
That never happened, cases declined and the beds sat empty.
Tar and feather!
“I feel it’s a waste of money,” said one Denver resident. “It’s never been used to this day.”
It’s a back-up plan with a huge price tag.
The cost to keep the beds available at the Colorado Convention Center under the current lease is $60,000 a day. That’s roughly $1.8 million a month for empty beds. “You’re quite right,” Willis said. “We have to be good stewards of the taxpayer money, so there’s a balancing act.”
Willis failed!
As you might imagine, public opinion is mixed about how much money is being spent on a field hospital that’s never been used.
“I think that they need to leave it open because there’s too many people still not wearing masks,” said one Denver resident.
Here’s the ignorance-because masks would end an invisible pandemic!
“Everything says there’s probably going to be a surge this winter,” said Steve Smith, who lives downtown. “Indoor, flu – everything like that. Seems to me that a problem foreseen is a problem avoided.
The only surge was from the illness following the jabs, and even then, those beds were NEVER USED.
Over at the Medical Center of Aurora, chief medical officer Dr. Philip Stahel does not see a scenario where they would need the convention center.
“We will not be surprised by this virus a second time,” Stahel said.
He says COVID-19 cases at Health One’s seven metro-Denver hospitals are declining.
“Just two weeks ago, for the very first time in six months, we had zero COVID patients,” Stahel said.
It’s now fluctuating between five and ten patients, but Stahel says treatment has even lessened the severity of COVID-19.
Agree, never counted more than 10 patients between 2 major inner city hospitals.
“Being prepared isn’t free,” Willis said. “If we were to ever need it, it would have been worth every penny. If you have to tear them out and put them back in it’s going to cost even more.”
In less than a day they would have all my debts paid off. Why are tax payers footing a bill for an empty makeshift hospital? Or is it a makeshift prison? Once the infrastructure is in place the corrupt government will look for excuses to use it, to retroactively justify it's boondoggle.
Isn't there some kind of committee to provide oversight on the spending of taxpayer money? In order to balance the budget there has to be a some kind of check on situations like this. Hospitals like this should be closed immediately.