BOSTON (WHDH) - Carney Hospital in Dorchester will become the nation’s first “dedicated care center” to treat patients who have the coronavirus.

Steward Health Care announced that beginning Tuesday their Northeast division will start to transform Carney Hospital into a space that focuses on treating coronavirus patients.

“We are waiting for more people to develop it, so we wanted to be ready for than that occurred,” said Dr. Joseph Einstein.

This will include the creation of negative pressure patient wards, enhanced patient isolation protocols, and the gathering of specialty equipment needed to treat critical COVID-19 cases, such as ventilators and personal protective equipment.

Steward Health Care, which operates 35 hospitals in nine states, plans to implement similar “designated care center” models in other communities on an as-need basis.

The company says these centers will help provide focused care and will keep emergency rooms and other hospitals fully operational to continue caring for other patients who are sick.

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