WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said a 300-bed federal medical station that is currently in Washington state will be sent to another location, causing speculation that one of several recently built field hospitals would be leaving the state.
But it turned out the president actually meant hospital beds.
Trump made the comment during Saturday’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing.
“As the situation in Washington state continues to stabilize, we’re returning a 300-bed federal medical station to a different location where we need it. We appreciate that they won’t be needing it, we appreciate them letting us know. We’re going to move it to a different location. It was already built,” the president said.
“Many governors initially made large requests for federal support for their states in anticipation of a greater number of cases, but the residents of Washington state have done a really good job of following the federal distancing guidelines. They really have.”
With a 250-bed field hospital set to open at the CenturyLink Field Event Center next week, KIRO 7 reached out to state officials for clarification.
Washington National Guard spokeswoman Karina Shagren told KIRO 7 the president was actually referring to hospital beds, not a field hospital.
Shagren said 1,000 beds from Department of Health and Human Services resources that are managed by FEMA were designated for Washington. Of those, 250 were designated for Yakima, but she didn’t know where the remaining were to go.
She also said she was unsure if any of the beds had actually arrived in the state.
Shagren said FEMA officials are currently working with Washington state officials at the Joint Emergency Command center at Camp Murray and the decision to return 300 beds to the federal pool likely came out of discussions there.
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