Cal Poly Alternate Care Site

The County of San Luis Obispo, in partnership with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Dignity Health, and Tenet Healthcare has unveiled its Alternate Care Site located at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Recreation Center.

This site will help relieve local hospitals by housing patients whose needs are between home care and hospitalization. The timing and size of the project is based on the epidemiological projections for the COVID-19 spread in San Luis Obispo County. The site is sized to serve SLO County’s expected need and is centrally located. The project is entirely locally planned and funded. If you are a medical professional who is interested in volunteering at the Cal Poly Alternate Care Site you can register here.

Cal Poly Alternate Care Site Details

Conceptual planning for this site began March 17.
Construction began on Monday, March 30.
Phase 1, which is 165 beds, was completed Wednesday, April 8.
Next phases in the building total 465 beds.
Last phase is 300 beds.
Total of 900+ beds when all phases are completed.
Medical services include: Therapeutic oxygen, basic fluids. Supportive care will be provided, not acute care.
Staffing will be provided by volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps. We are currently processing and training more than 250 volunteers to prepare for staffing the facility.
No structural changes to the building were necessary. Everything for the facility is freestanding. We are taking care not to damage or alter Cal Poly’s building.
Major contractors include RRM, Trust Automation, Thoma Electric, McCall Plumbing and more.
Set up costs are about $900K to $1M – about $1,000 per bed.
Other costs include about $3.5M for initial medical supplies and equipment.
The County’s practice is to budget annually a 5% contingency (approx $26M this year) on the operating budget. The County is using the contingency to fund the ACS and the County’s immediate response to COVID-19.