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Photo by Jason Payne / PNG

The conversion should be complete and ready for patients by Wednesday, he said. However, it is up to the B.C. government to decide if and when and if to start transferring less-acute patients to the convention centre, based on need and availability of hospital beds provincewide, said Brown.

“We remain cautiously optimistic we’ll be able to flatten that curve and allow our own sites throughout the province to manage the surge,” he said.

The Vancouver Convention Centre’s west building was completed in 2009 and is one of the most visible landmarks on Vancouver’s downtown waterfront. But you won’t be allowed to simply walk in and ask for help.

“Patients receiving care at the alternate site will be directly transferred in from a referring hospital,” said Brown. “The site is not accessible to the public.”

The type of patients who might be moved out of hospitals and into the convention centre to make way for COVID-19 cases include those suffering from heart attacks, those needing IV antibiotics, requiring pain control, seniors with non-COVID pneumonia, post-surgical patients, those requiring routine services like ultrasounds or blood testing, and a variety of other non-operative cases.

Photo by Jason Payne / PNG

B.C.’s existing ambulances and medical transport vehicles will be used to take people to the convention centre. In some cases, a person who arrives at an emergency room to seek treatment for something not related to COVID-19 may be immediately transported to the convention centre for help, said Brown.