Stantec, a global integrated design firm, is providing design and engineering services for the temporary conversion of a portion of the McCormick Place Convention Center into an Alternate Care Facility (ACF) for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients. The unprecedented facility will have the capacity to treat up to 3,000 low-to-moderate acuity patients across three of the convention center’s halls, where patients will be separated by level of care required. Walsh Construction is the contractor for the project.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) in association with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will direct the conversion of McCormick Place into a facility focused on patient care, infection control, fire protection, and life safety. The ACF is designed to relieve pressure on the hospital system by freeing up beds for more patients with severe COVID-19 cases in anticipation of the surge in positive COVID-19 diagnoses to come. 

The temporary field hospital is expected to be complete by April 24, construction on the first 500 beds was completed on April 3.

“We need to quickly and efficiently leverage our existing spaces and infrastructure, to allow our healthcare professionals to focus on providing care in this time of crisis,” said Douglas King, AIA, NCARB, ACHA, healthcare principal at Stantec. “Our team at Stantec is proud to support this mission in our local Chicago community, and we hope it will serve as a model across the country.” 

Stantec is supporting rapid response solutions by healthcare organizations during the COVID-19 crisis. Stantec’s health sector team has programmed, designed, and planned some of the most complex healthcare solutions in the world. Our integrated teams focus on lean operations, quality care environments, and efficient building systems to create flexible and adaptable care platforms.