Alternate Care Facility at Wisconsin State Fair Park to open October 14

The Alternate Care Facility at Wisconsin State Fair Park is set to open later this month.

Governor Tony Evers says the state received a request to open the Alternate Care Facility and will do so on October 14, 2020.

“This alternative care facility at State Fair Park will take some of the pressure off the system by providing 530 additional patient spaces, while expanding the continuum of care for folks who have COVID-19,” Governor Evers said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

“To be clear, this is not a hospital and the State Fair Park facility will not be accepting walk-in patients,” Evers said.

Department of Health Services Secretary Designee Andrea Palm says the state’s healthcare system is getting overwhelmed by the number of patients who require care.

“The West Allis Alternate Care Facility will serve as an overflow facility for hospitals across the state, accepting patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, have been hospitalized for 48 hours and are ambulatory,” Palm said on Wednesday.

“This will free up beds in our hospitals to better care for more severely ill COVID and non-COVID patients,” Palm said.

The announcement comes as the seven-day average for daily new COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin hit 2,346 on Wednesday. That’s up from just 879 one month ago.

“We are one of only a few states in the country to need to open an alternate care facility,” Palm said. “This is not a list we ever wanted to be on, but we are thankful to be prepared.”