SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today's Why Guy question comes from Steven Kimes via Facebook; "Why is information regarding the number of occupied beds in old Arco Arena so difficult to come by?"
Steven, the Why Guy is on it and has access to that, but first some background. The old Arco Arena/Power Balance Arena/Sleep Train Arena was reconfigured and outfitted last April to be an emergency field hospital with the spread of COVID expected to stress capacity at local hospitals.
The former home of the Sacramento Kings can handle 224 patients. Not many were treated here from April thru November, but in December, the pandemic began to spread.
I asked the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) what medical issues the patients here have, and Spokesman Bryan May replied, "while we can't provide specific information due to privacy care laws, I can pass along that the Sleep Train Arena alternate care facility was set up to treat low acuity patients."
“Low acuity” meaning "non or less serious".
We were also told that the current patient count inside the arena is 13 as of January 25th. To date, according to OES, the highest count of patients at any one time was 20 in early December.
It's not a guarantee that patients treated here are specifically COVID patients, but are here to alleviate overburdened local hospitals.
Find out how to get money for rent, utilities and more coming to California from the second federal stimulus bill.
