Vancouver Convention Health Centre (COVID-19 Response): Planning, implementation, and four lessons learned.

Brown, D Ross; Hennecke, Peter; Nottebrock, Doug; Dhillon, Paul; Halberthal, Michal; Berger, Gidon; Hussein, Khetam; Reisner, Shimon; Mekel, Michal; Horowitz, Netanel A; Shachor-Meyouhas, Yael; Geffen, Yuval; Hyams, Gila; Beyar, Rafael

The Vancouver Convention Health Centre (VCHC) was rapidly set up as a part of the COVID-19 response in Brit-ish Columbia in order to create surge hospital capacity bed space. Multiple field hospitals were set up across the country in preparation for a possible surge and the VCHC utilized a non-traditional health care space and overlaid it with medical infrastructure. Maximum flexibility was required in planning for multiple patient populations and a novel four-box concept to plan for the requirements of the respective possible populations was developed. Key difficulties that needed to be overcome in planning COVID-19 medical care delivery in a non-traditional space included oxygen delivery, unknown future patient populations, and staffing. A clear recommendation can also now be made that healthcare provision should be considered during the design and build of new recreational or convention facilities in all communities.