MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The state is preparing for a potential second wave of COVID-19. Baldwin County is set to be the location for another makeshift hospital.
It was just two months ago that Governor Kemp toured the 200-bed makeshift hospital at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. Now, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) says they're packing it up and moving some of the beds to Milledgeville.
"Now, we hope we don't have a second phase of COVID-19 or a second outbreak, if you will, to the point that it challenges hospital capacity, but we'd be foolish not to plan for it," said Adj. Gen. Thomas Carden with the Georgia Department of Defense.
GEMA says 76 beds will be set up in the Youth ChalleNGe Academy in Milledgeville. Around 120 beds will be transported to the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth for storage. Mark Sexton, deputy director of GEMA, says Milledgeville was chosen because it's centrally located.
"It will be kind of a relief valve for several of the metropolitan areas in the state," Sexton said. "It can help out Macon, Augusta and even up from Savannah and Dublin area."
GEMA and the Georgia National Guard were looking for a building already owned by the state. In the case of the Youth ChalleNGe Academy, it was owned by the Georgia Department of Defense, and its Milledgeville location was planning to close because of state budget cuts.
The academy is a "residential alternative education provider," according to the program's website.
Both say this setup at the building is just in case Georgia sees a second wave. It won't operate unless needed. However, if it is needed, it will be for non-critical COVID-19 patients, according to Sexton.
"That helps clear patients out of the hospitals themselves for the more critical care folks to be taken care of in the actual medical facility," Sexton said.
Sexton says they're also working to coordinate with the local medical system in the area and bringing in a contracted medical company. who the state used at the World Congress Center, but the crew will be on standby until they're needed.
For now, GEMA and the Georgia National Guard are preparing on if there's another spike in cases.
"Until we get a vaccine, the governor has made it very clear to us that we will not be unprepared. We're going to pray for the best, but we're going to prepare for the worst day in Georgia," Carden said.
GEMA and the Georgia say they'll start moving beds in the next week or so. However, they don't have an exact date on when it will be finished. Right now, the Youth ChalleNGe Academy is still moving out.
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