April 9, 2020
Dear Concord and Lakes Region area elected officials,
I write again to provide you with an update on the Alternate Care Site (ACS) at NHTI, Concord’s Community College, which has been established to meet medical surge needs from area hospitals. This follows a communication I sent to you on March 31 describing how the project was progressing.
Significant work has been done in areas of facilities, securing supply chains, and the establishment of medical operations processes. We expect that by early next week (the week of April 13), the site will be completed and ready to accommodate patients. As a reminder, the ACS at NHTI will accommodate COVID-positive patients who do not require acute care, thereby preserving space at Concord Hospital and LRGHealthcare (Lakes Region General Hospital and Franklin Regional Hospital) for patients with greater medical needs.
On campus, our facilities team has been readying Langley Hall, a dormitory on the north side of campus, and the gymnasium in Sweeney Hall with beds, cots and nursing stations. Additional IT installations have been put in place to provide for the Wi-Fi, networking, communications and administrative needs of the site. Inside the buildings, furnishings have been protected and plastic sheeting has been installed to delineate areas and transitional spaces for patient care and those reserved for non-clinical use.
Signage and external barriers have been put in place by our security team to adjust parking utilization and traffic flow. We have brought in additional portable lighting to provide for the needs of a 24/7 site. One area of significant effort has been to ensure appropriate power, electrical, ventilation and air flow for patient rooms and other spaces. Area businesses have kindly donated new books, games, puzzles, personal care items and more to engage our guests during their stay and make them as comfortable as possible. And hospital staff has been hard at work on their planning efforts to meet patient care needs across a wide array of operational areas.
Without listing each and every area of effort, please know that people have been hard at work ensuring that our regional medical surge site is prepared to meet the needs of our communities.
Throughout this process we have been attentive to safety and social distancing. This applies to our project team as well as to the campus generally. Unfortunately, there are areas on campus where we have seen increasing numbers of people congregating. NHTI, working with NH Fish and Game, has made the decision to temporarily close the public boat launch at the Ft. Eddy Road entrance to campus as well as the Sycamore Community Garden. We regret these steps, but feel they are
necessary to protect the public. You can read more about that here. We look forward to re-opening these areas as soon as we can do so safely.
As public information officer to this project, I am happy to answer any questions you have. You can reach me via email or at 568-5599. I also refer you to my update of March 31 as well as to a recent article in the Concord Monitor about the ACS.
Please accept our best wishes that you are staying safe and healthy.
Shannon Reid
Executive Director of Government Affairs and Communications
Community College System of NH
26 College Drive
Concord, NH 03301-7425
603-230-3504
[email protected]
www.ccsnh.edu
