SAN ANTONIO — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to test resource limits at Bexar County hospitals amid a worsening public health crisis county- and state-wide, Texas health authorities say Freeman Coliseum continues to be a overflow site for local patients.
But officials emphasized the east-side facility, located adjacent to the AT&T Center, would be a last resort.
"We're not anywhere near needing to use Freeman yet," said Eric Epley, executive director for the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, appearing alongside local leaders in a Friday briefing.
Epley said the coliseum would only be utilized as a hospitalization site once local hospitals have all met their capacity, adding that patients are better-equipped if they're "in the cafeteria in the bed in the hospital" than any makeshift treatment center off-site.
Along with a record total of new coronavirus cases reported on Friday with over 1,300, local leaders say hospitalization trends continue to go in the wrong direction. Friday saw an increase over Thursday in current total hospitalizations, patients in intensive care and patients on ventilators; and just 14% of staffed hospital beds in the area are prepared to take a new patient heading into the holiday weekend, according to Nirenberg.
Epley said that it takes five to seven days to fully outfit Freeman as an "alternate care site," and that process began on Thursday as a precaution. But he added that using the site is the last of a five-step plan to accomodate a surplus of coronavirus patients.
Meanwhile, more than 170 nurses from other parts of Texas have arrived in county, which has seen a drastic surge in cases in recent weeks. Epley says at least 70 more are expected at the start of next week to fortify local frontlines.