Creeping across our usual social media circuit of rural conspiracy types who see a jihadist hiding behind every turkey barn and such scary things, a couple of weeks ago we'd read a couple of comments suggesting Evil Democrats were jonesing to open a "FEMA camp" in the shuttered private prison at Appleton. Such fears weren't nurtured by the rest of the community, such as it is, to their credit.
But western Minnesota health care providers and three counties are working on using one pod of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton to care for COVID-19 patients, MInnesota Public Radio and the Associated Press reported in Western Minnesota health care providers eye former prison for COVID-19 care facility on Saturday afternoon. Earlier that day, the Star Tribune ran a short AP news brief 3 Minnesota counties explore converting former Appleton prison for COVID-19 care.
The most complete coverage--drawn upon by the MPR's Dan Gunderson, appeared in the Swift County Monitor, always an example of why a great small town newspaper is an essential service.
In Counties propose using Prairie Correctional Facility as COVID-19 hospital, publisher Reed Anfinson reports:
Four area hospitals are pursuing a plan to turn one pod of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton into a COVID-19 medical center with an initial cost of $1 million.
Called the Tri-County Covid Medical Center it would serve Chippewa, Lac qui Parle and Swift counties. The costs would be split based on county population.
County Population Contribution
Chippewa 12,010 $425,977
Swift 9,411 $333,794
Lac qui Parle 6,773 $240,228
Total 28,194 $1,000,000
The proposal was presented by Appleton Area Health Services (AAHS) CEO Lori Andreas and Swift County-Benson Health Services Co-CEO Melissa McGinty-Thompson at an emergency meeting of the Swift County Board of Commissioners Friday morning. The other two hospitals involved are Montevideo and Dawson.
It is a plan also supported by Countryside Public Health, the regional agency that covers Swift, Chippewa, Yellow Medicine, Big Stone and Lac qui Parle counties.
Appleton’s 1,600-bed Prairie Correctional Facility has sat empty since February 2010 with owner CoreCivic keeping a minimal staff on hand to do maintenance and keep the facility ready to open should the state call for it to house prisoners.
“We let them know that we would fund it,” Andreas told commissioners. “They were very open to it, very supportive and really expressed that they want to support us in this process.”
They are also asking if some of its staff can take the prisoner beds out of the rooms so they can be replaced with hospital beds. There will need to a place for an ambulance to pull up near the pod that is being used for patients, she added.
CoreCivic has been facilitating the group’s pursuit of the prison for a COVID-19 hospital. In an email to the Monitor-News Saturday, CoreCivic confirmed its ongoing conversation with the group of hospitals.
“This is an extraordinary time in the history of our country when the public and private sectors need to work together to find innovative ways to solve the most urgent problems we face,” CoreCivic President and CEO Damon Hininger said in a statement to the Monitor-News. “We see our role as supporting our government partners and the communities we together serve in any way we can,”
“CoreCivic is partnering with officials in Minnesota on a proactive, innovative approach to mitigating the potential impact of COVID-19 in their community,” the statement continued.
“The Prairie Correctional Facility is being provided to Minnesota health officials at no cost – meaning no financial benefit to the company. This is the right thing to do to help meet this critical need.
“The facility will be staffed and managed by health care professionals. CoreCivic will devote a small staff to maintain the building. We’re grateful to our team for helping provide this important public service,” the statement said.
The current plan is to get one of the prison pods ready immediately with 11 rooms. It wants to have those rooms ready by March 30. The facility could be expanded to 77 beds if the COVID-19 spread is greater than anticipated and other counties request to use it, Andreas said.
The facility would not just be for ICU patients but would also include people who are sick but couldn’t be at home.
The Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Hospitals Association have been made aware of the work to convert PCF to a COVID-19 facility, she said. “We are getting the message that they are really impressed with the rural communities taking the bull by the horns and doing what they can to be prepared if the surge happens,” Andreas said.
Dr. Brandon Osbon at Chippewa County-Montevideo Hospital in Montevideo has taken the lead on the medical side of the planning for use of the prison for COVID-19 patients.
Swift County’s commissioners have scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday to vote on the funding. County boards in Chippewa and Lac qui Parle counties were also to vote on the funding.
The group of hospitals was looking for the funds to be approved as soon as possible so they can start converting the prison pod to a COVID-19 hospital immediately. It asked the money be given in the form of a grant or an interest free loan.
“Time is of the essence here,” Andreas said. “This is going to hit soon. Time is not on our side.”
While county funds are being requested to start-up the COVID-19 hospital, there is an expectation that state, federal, and insurance reimbursements will offset all the additional costs of this project, Andreas stated in a letter to the county board.
Prairie Correctional Facility ideal
Last Saturday there was a meeting with the Minnesota Hospitals Association that really started getting people thinking differently about the coronavirus and preparing for it, Andreas told commissioners. It also got them thinking about the potential surge in cases that could be seen in western Minnesota if the spread of the virus is not slowed down.
AAHS is part of the Lac qui Parle Health Network that also includes Madison and Dawson. They have been working with Montevideo on how they can combat the coronavirus if it becomes a worst-case scenario.
The group then reached out to Swift County-Benson Health Services (SCBHS) to include it in the coronavirus team it was forming.
As they discussed addressing the challenge of handling a surge in the number of COVID-19 patients they were looking for a place to convert into a hospital that could separate these patients from other patients that needed to be seen at a local healthcare facility. The obvious place to them was the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Andreas said.
A group of the administrators and medical professionals toured the prison March 18 to see if it would work. “We really felt it would be a good option,” Andreas said.
The four hospitals would pool their available resources and equipment not required for their own use to stock the prison turned into hospital. . . .
Read the entire article at the Swift County Monitor. Readers know that we're not a fan of re-opening the prison, whether under private or public ownership--nor do we care for the corporation that owns the facility--but this plan has merit in a time of pandemic.
The rural response to COVID is fraught with issues the Tri-County Covid Medical Center could help address. AgWeek's Noah Fish reported on March 19 in Rural health care providers brace for outbreak surge in a section called "What rural providers lack"
Of those infected with COVID-19, 15% to 20% will need some kind of intervention, possibly hospitalization, said Slabach, and 2% to 5% will require a form of intensive care.
Rural hospitals will be prepared for the 20% of patients that require hospitalization, but Slabach said those hospitals will have a problem meeting the demand for intensive services, particularly ones that need the assistance of a ventilator for airway maintenance.
"Because it's just not needed, many rural hospitals depend on their tertiary partners to transfer patients that are seriously ill," Slabach said. "Many of them don't have intensive care units."
Slabach predicts those partners that rural providers rely on to transfer seriously ill patients will be full and unable to do so.
"So they're going to have to do the best they can if this develops into an emergency, situation with the number of patients being presented," Slabach said. "This could be real problematic given the lack of intensive services they would have available." . . .
At the Minnesota Reformer the same day, data star Rilyn Eischens reported in The COVID-19 pandemic could be ‘devastating’ in rural areas:
But the pandemic will hit rural communities eventually, and many don’t have the health care infrastructure to handle an influx of patients, she said. Greater Minnesota’s aging population and higher rates of chronic illness also put them at higher risk for severe COVID-19. Nearly 45% of rural residents are over the age of 50, compared to 32% of urban residents.
Between 845,000 and 2.5 million Minnesotans could get sick during the pandemic, according to projections from from the Harvard Global Health Institute. The number of people requiring hospitalization statewide could drastically exceed the number of available hospital beds, even under the researchers’ most conservative projections of the virus’ effects. In a moderate scenario where 40% of residents fall ill, more than 350,000 people — 8% of the state’s population — will require hospitalization. Roughly 75,000 will need ICU treatment.
Health care workforces are already limited in rural areas and will be even more strained when doctors and nurses get sick or need to self-quarantine. In Minnesota, 80% of licensed health care workers were in metro areas in 2019, whereas roughly 73% of the population lived in metro areas, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
There's a lot more there there at the Reformer.
Over here in South Dakota, Nick Lowrey reported at South Dakota New Watch in Experts: S.D. health-care system could be overwhelmed if COVID-19 takes hold.
Stay home if you can and wash your hands.
Related posts:
- Disconnect: town hall attendees want prison repurposed as inmate mental health care facility
- MN Sen. Andrew Lang and Rep. Tim Miller to hold Dec. 11 town hall on Appleton's private prison
- MN Republican Senate & House federal PACs took $5000 from CoreCivic PAC in 2018
- #Mnleg ordered study: Appleton private prison bed rent more expensive than county jail cell.
- Opposition to CoreCivic bid to re-open Appleton Prison as ICE detention center meet to Tuesday
- Land Stewardship Project: LSP member leaders oppose ICE detention facility at Appleton prison
- West Central Tribune coverage of opposition to possible use of Appleton CoreCivic prison by ICE
- Bill Ingebrigtsen wants to convert closed Appleton Prison into a mental health facility
Photo: An aerial view of the private prison at Appleton. Submitted to Minnesota Lawyer by Swift County.
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