Riverside’s former Sears will serve as a 125-bed field hospital to help handle an expected surge in patients caused by the novel coronavirus, Riverside County officials announced Thursday, April 9.

The 90,000-square-foot building in the 5200 block of Arlington Avenue will handle “more stable, less severe” patients, freeing up beds in the county’s 17 acute care hospitals,according to a county news release.

Update: Work begins to turn closed Sears into coronavirus surge field hospital

The hospital could “potentially” take COVID-19 cases, county spokeswoman Brooke Federico said via a text message.

Such decisions would “be based on the needs of the patients and the needs of the health care facilities,” she said.

Known as a Federal Medical Station, the hospital will have beds, portable sinks, personal protective equipment and other gear provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A similar facility is already running at the county fairgrounds in Indio.

“Moving out the medically fragile folks from Magnolia Rehab was just the beginning,” Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County public health officer, said in a news release.

He referred to the Wednesday, April 8, evacuation of Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside, where 83 patients were moved to other facilities after employees failed to show up for work for two straight days. At least 16 Magnolia Rehabilitation staff members and 34 patients tested positive for COVID-19.

“There will be many folks who’ll need care when our hospitals start taking hits, and this second station means we’ll have the same added capacity in our western county as we do in the east,” Kaiser added.

Supervisor Karen Spiegel said in the release that officials will “very soon need every single hospital bed in Riverside County.”

“This medical station will give us sorely needed bed space, so that medical teams can continue their heroic efforts to treat more patients in need,” she said.

The California National Guard will set up the hospital, but will not do law-enforcement, county officials said.

About 30 to 40 people will work at the field hospital.

Opened in 1964, the iconic Sears was one of seven Southern California Sears picked to close last November as the once-mighty retailer struggles to stay afloat.

The county had 1,280 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths as of Thursday.