Army Corps Awards Contracts for Temporary N.J. Hospitals

By Eric Althoff

TRENTON, N.J.—The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted contracts for three temporary COVID-19 treatment facilities in New Jersey. These additions are meant to ease the wave of coronavirus cases that the state has seen.

According to NJ.com, the projects at East Orange General Hospital in East Orange, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus and St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton will increase the state’s bed capacity by some 300 beds.

East Orange’s General Hospital will see an unused part of the healthcare facility transformed into a wing with 250 beds. The work in East Orange is being undertaken by contractor Cutting Edge Group, LLC, reported NJ.com.

The report also said that the work at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey’s capital city, has been assigned to general contractor Sand Point Services, LLC.

In the most stunning turnaround, the work at the New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus was completed in only two weeks, according to some reports. TapInto.net reported that the healthcare facility converted its gym into a 30-bed facility and also added a 100-bed medical tent in such a quick time, partly due to funds provided by the CARES Act financial relief package passed in Congress.

Conti Federal Services, LLC oversaw the conversion of the gym at Bergen New Bridge Medical Facility, and the tent work was overseen by DynCorp International, LLC, according to NJ.com.

New Jersey is one of the hardest-hit states in the country for covid-19, with neighboring New York at the top of the number of cases. The New Jersey Department of Health reports over 140,000 confirmed cases throughout the state, resulting in more than 9,000 deaths. The counties bordering New York City have been especially hard-hit, according to the department’s figures.