The Jefferson County Commission on Tuesday bought 55 hospital beds and transferred $1 million to the general fund to address costs of the coronavirus response.

The county bought the beds from Jett Medical Company for $80,750, preparing for a potential surge in COVID-19 patients in the county. Commissioners acted working with the state and county health department incident response teams. The beds will be used in a “surge hospital,” that is a makeshift hospital created in the event hospitals are overwhelmed with patients.

The Jefferson County EMA is considering using the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex or the Sheraton Hotel as a surge hospital, if one is needed, said District 4 commissioner Joe Knight

“If we need them, we got them. If not, we can sell them and replenish the money we get from them back to the emergency fund,” Knight said during the meeting.

He said the commission initially wanted to purchase more beds, but only 55 were available. There were about 75 beds available from the vendor, but the other 25 were sold in between phone calls as officials were deciding if they should go ahead and purchase extra beds.

Knight said the county has to be prepared for a surge of patients. He mentioned the various research organizations modeling and predicting when cases are expected to peak.

“You know, we have to we have to kind of try to prepare for for that," he said.

The commission transferred $1 million from the catastrophic event fund to the general fund. The money will be used to cover any coronavirus-related costs or supplies. Among costs already incurred? The purchase of an extra truck for the county coroner, Knight told commissioners.

There are just under 1,000 cases in Alabama; there are more than 255 cases in Jefferson County.

Jefferson County is still doing business online. Click here for more information about how to pay taxes, renew car tags or get a marriage license while the courthouse is closed.