MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An overflow hospital facility in Memphis will be located at the former office of The Commercial Appeal newspaper at 495 Union Avenue, Mayor Jim Strickland said Monday.
Another hospital site for patients with COVID-19 had previously been announced in the Gateway Shopping Center on Jackson Avenue. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working on build-out at the site.
But the Union Avenue location will be the primary site because it is closer to the hospitals in the Medical District, Strickland said.
Both temporary hospitals are being built out to serve patients in case hospitals are overwhelmed by coronavirus cases. The Pipkin Building at the Fairgrounds may also be used as a triage center.
It takes two to three weeks to build the hospitals out, Strickland said. Work has already begun on the Jackson Avenue site.
The Commercial Appeal moved out of its longtime office and printing facility on Union last year.
As of Monday, Shelby County’s case count stood at 1,269, with 28 deaths.