Redwood City – The County of San Mateo is preparing for a possible projected surge in COVID-19 positive patients at area hospitals by welcoming federal and state partners who are bringing critical supplies to the San Mateo Event Center.
An initial delivery of supplies and equipment arrived Sunday and the National Guard is expected to be on site through Tuesday assisting the state and County in setting up the federal cache, which includes cots and medical equipment needed to establish a field treatment site with capacity for up to 250 low acuity beds. No patients will be immediately housed in the space but proactively standing it up now allows the County to be ready if and when more medical treatment space is required.
“The latest projections estimate that a medical surge could push the hospitals in our county to capacity and we’ll need another location to house patients requiring particular levels of care,” said County Manager Mike Callagy. “We can’t just wait to see if this will happen. We need to prepare now so that we can be ready to care for our friends, neighbors and loved ones when they need it most.”
The National Guard will depart after delivering and staging the equipment and supplies. The site will be jointly operated by the County, which owns the Event Center land, and the state. San Mateo city leaders said they also welcome the opportunity to assist.
“This is a major humanitarian effort to bring vital resources to our region, and support residents across San Mateo County. Our city's multi-agency emergency operations center will collaborate with our County partners to help ensure this critical health and safety operation runs smoothly in our community,” said San Mateo City Manager Drew Corbett.
Event Center leaders echoed the sentiment.
"At a time when resources are critically important, it is a privilege to provide support to the County and state, said Event Center CEO Dana Stoehr. "Our Board of Directors, management team, and staff stand united in committed service."
To help support operation of the Event Center site when it is utilized, the County is asking residents and organizations with personal protective equipment (PPE) for donations.
Supplies in demand are:
- Unused N95 respirators and surgical masks. Packages can be opened, as long as they have not been used.
- Unopened packages of disposable gloves
- Unopened containers of hand sanitizer
- Unopened containers of disinfectants and disinfecting wipes
- Packaged, unused protective goggles
Personal protective equipment supplies can be dropped off Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maple Street Correctional Facility, 1300 Maple St., Redwood City.
**Please follow the “donations” sign to staffed collection bins in the parking lot. Only items on the list above will be accepted.**
Businesses with medical supplies to donate should email smcmeddonations@smcgov.org
County of San Mateo Joint Information Center
(650) 779-9939
smc_jic@smcgov.org
County COVID-19 Information & Resources: www.smcgov.org