Butterdome to be set up as a field hospital

100 beds being prepared at U of A should need arise in the new year

The Butterdome at the University of Alberta campus is being converted into a field hospital that may be used for some COVID-19 patients in January.

Around 100 in-patient beds are being prepped over the next few weeks with the help of the Canadian Red Cross, Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said at Wednesday's provincial COVID-19 update. She said the field hospital is being prepared as a precaution.

“As you may recall, AHS used the Butterdome as an assessment centre earlier this spring,” she said.

“There is no plan to staff these beds, unless they are needed. This is a purely precautionary measure for use if needed in the future.”

Alberta Health Services spokesman Kerry Williamson said the beds would be for patients recovering from COVID-19 who are deemed at low risk of transmitting the virus by AHS infection prevention and control.

“This is not the first time AHS has worked to increase capacity by using non-traditional health-care facilities as a response to the pandemic. AHS used the Butterdome as a health-care facility earlier this spring, and a temporary structure has been in place for months at the Peter Lougheed Centre,” he said in an email Wednesday.

“If needed, the (alternative care centre) at the Butterdome could be opened in January.”

AHS has added an additional 60 ICU beds in the last six weeks, in addition to the 66 general adult ICU beds, he said.

Alberta has the highest number of active cases of COVID-19 of any province in Canada at 20,169.

The Edmonton Zone, which encompasses the city and surrounding municipalities, continues to be a hot spot for the disease with 9,715 active cases, the highest of any health region.

As cases have grown, more hospital and ICU beds have been occupied by COVID-19 positive patients, putting a strain on the health-care system. By Wednesday, there were 749 Albertans hospitalized for COVID-19.

More people are hospitalized in the Edmonton Zone (418 patients) than all of Alberta's other health zones combined. Of the 139 Albertans in ICU, 62 per cent are in the Edmonton Zone with 87 patients.

The provincial government asked the federal government and Canadian Red Cross to supply field hospitals as a contingency plan.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro told Postmedia earlier this month that field hospitals were not part of its expansion plan to free up more than 2,000 acute care and more than 400 ICU beds. He said the province had been in discussions with the Red Cross to see if expanding capacity was “even possible.”

Sixteen additional deaths from COVID-19 were reported by the province on Wednesday, along with another 1,270 cases.

More than 10 times as many Albertans have died from COVID-19 in under 10 months than have died from the flu in the last 10 years combined, Hinshaw said. A total of 760 people have died from the coronavirus in Alberta.

Hinshaw also tackled vaccine hesitancy by assuring Albertans that Canada's approval process is robust, and the vaccine is safe. The first round of vaccinations in Alberta began Tuesday.

“The ingredients inside it are only those needed to keep the vaccine stable and safe. And the clinical trial with tens-of-thousands of participants from multiple countries found no safety concerns,” she said.

“I believe the benefits of vaccines far outweigh the risks, and this vaccine will save lives.”

Across Alberta, 29,000 healthcare workers are expected to receive the vaccine by the end of December.

Vaccinations begin in Edmonton and Calgary with health-care workers in ICU, respiratory therapists, and some long-term care workers getting the shot.

Next, other health-care workers like homecare staff, emergency department staff and physicians may be offered the vaccine, Hinshaw said, followed by residents in long-term care and designated supportive living.

The next stage would be offering vaccines for anyone over 75, those who are 65 and older in First Nations reserves and Métis settlements, and additional healthcare workers like those who work in COVID-19 wards or internal medicine units.

Hinshaw said depending on when the province can confirm the January shipment of vaccine, it may need to hold onto some its 25,000 doses in reserve to make sure those who got the first shot can get the necessary second dose in time.

Globally, more than 1.6 million people have died from COVID-19 and there have been more than 72 million cases, shows data from the World Health Organization. Health Canada numbers last updated Tuesday shows there have been 475,214 cases, including 13,659 deaths nationwide.