TCF Center will open with a new designation Friday, accepting the first 25 coronavirus patients to the converted 1,000-bed field hospital.

Another 25 patients could move into the TCF Regional Health Care Center on Saturday, according to state officials. And the admissions will ramp up as needed next week.

The opening of the facility, the former Cobo Convention Center, comes just 11 days after TCF crews and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began converting the state's largest convention center into the state's first field hospital to help ease the surge of COVID-19 patients that has overwhelmed hospitals in southeast Michigan. A second field hospital is being prepared at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.

The partnership running TCF will include Henry Ford Health System, McLaren Health Care, Beaumont Health and the Detroit Medical Center.

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“Fighting this virus is going to take all of us working together as Michiganders, and we are proud to be partnering with these Michigan health care systems to help save lives and ensure those with the most serious cases of COVID-19 get the care they need,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Our hospitals and medical professionals are serving on the front line in the fight against COVID-19, and they are proving that once again by stepping up to support the TCF Regional Care Center.”

The three people who will lead the field hospital are:

Lynn Torossian, who will be the CEO of TCF. She has been the president and CEO of Henry Ford Hospital West Bloomfield, as well as the president of Harper Hutzel Hospital in Detroit and Huron Valley-Sinai Grace Hospital in Commerce Township. Currently, she is the chief executive coach of LMT Executive Advisers in Milford, which trains health care executives on how to build successful organizations.

Dr. Jenny Atas, who will be the chief medical officer at TCF Center, where she will set up and run the triage protocol. She is the head of the Region 2 South Healthcare Coalition, which helps 35 hospitals in Wayne, Washtenaw and Monroe counties develop strategic plans on how to deal with emergencies and natural disasters. She is an emergency medicine physician who has been affiliated with multiple hospitals in metro Detroit and has served as the chief medical officer for events ranging from the NFL's Super Bowl, MLB's All-Star Game, the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix and the Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon.

Dan Medrano, who will be the chief operating officer at TCF and will run day-to-day operations. He is the corporate vice president for facilities management at McLaren Health in Grand Blanc and is overseeing $1 billion worth of construction in the McLaren system. He is a former major in the U.S. Marines.

TCF will receive patients from other southeast Michigan acute-care hospitals at least 48 hours after they have been admitted as a patient at one of those facilities. It will accept only transfers, no walk-ins, and will not have an intensive care unit or provide care to patients who need ventilators.

Each of the health care systems participating are bringing critical resources to the effort. Henry Ford Health System will support pharmaceutical purchasing and patient tracking services at TCF and will also have members serving in key roles, including the on-site clinical liaison

“As a health system caring for a large majority of our region’s COVID-19 patients, we are uniquely positioned to provide the expertise needed to optimize this field hospital,” Wright Lassiter III, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System, said in a statement “We are confident that with the help of our partners, this facility will help ease the collective burden we share as we continue to fight this pandemic.”

Beaumont Health will work to support certain procurement efforts vital to TCF operations, subject to market availability, and Detroit Medical Center is supplying critical equipment to the field hospital.

“We are all trying to be helpful in a stressful situation that is putting a strain on the entire health care system throughout the country,” Beaumont Health CEO John Fox said in a statement.

“All health systems in our community are facing serious capacity issues with the growing number of COVID-19 patients," said Audrey Gregory, chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center. "The resources at the TCF Regional Care Center will benefit all of us and help to enhance the care we provide to those in the communities we serve.”

Initial staffing at the hospital will be through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense. But once more patients are admitted, the state will work to fill the hospital with health care professionals from wherever it can get them.

During a tele-town hall hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber this week, Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said staffing the field hospitals is as big a task as converting the sites into medical facilities.

“Beyond the sites ... the people remains a huge challenge and we will be getting some help from DOD around staffing the TCF site, but we need more people," he said.

“The governor has put out a call for volunteers. It's been ... aired nationally. She's talked about it when she's done national TV, and we have gotten thousands of people volunteering. We continue to be interested in growing that pool in every way possible," he said. "We're doing everything we can to enable people to come, to encourage them to come and to create pipelines for them to come."

The TCF field hospital will be split. There will be 600 beds in Hall C to treat more seriously ill patients, but those who don't need a ventilator. Another 400 beds are in Hall E in the lower level for COVID-19 patients who are considered recovering.

From the TCF Center, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already begun work on the Suburban Collection Showplace, transforming the convention center to another 1,000-bed field hospital to ease overcrowding at suburban hospitals. Ascension Health, formerly known as St. John Providence Health System, will run the Novi field hospital.

The cost to the state for the leases on TCF and Suburban, which run through Sept. 30, is nearly $8.2 million each.

The opening of the field hospitals follows similar transformations at the Javits Center in New York City and McCormack Place in Chicago. At first, the Javits Center, which has 2,500 beds, was meant to treat patients who didn't have coronavirus and had remained mostly empty. Over the weekend, Javits began accepting COVID-19 patients, who aren't dependent on ventilators, but the hospital still is nowhere near its capacity.

That would be a good problem to have, Whitmer said Thursday.

"It would be great problem to have to not have to use all those beds," she said. "If we abide by the stay home order, and there's evidence that Michiganders are taking it seriously … then maybe we won't have to use all of those beds. But we have to be prepared in the event that they're necessary."

Employment options at field hospitals

For those looking to apply for work at one of the alternate care facilities, there are two options:

Those looking to volunteer for shorter periods of time can go to: http://www.michigan.gov/fightcovid19

Health care professionals looking for longer term, paid positions can go to: https://form.jotform.com/200947011547047

Staff writer Kristen Jordan Shamus contributed to this report.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.