City, county come together to establish Personal Isolation Facility in Greeley
By Kelly Ragan
If you get COVID-19 but you aren’t sick enough to need intensive care, hospitals don’t necessarily want you taking up valuable bed space. But what happens if you’re a threat to the others you live with?
Greeley City Council voted Tuesday to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Weld County to establish, fund and manage a COVID-19 Personal Isolation Facility. The facility is meant to ensure folks who need to recover from the virus can do so away from others without taking up bed space hospitals need for critically ill patients.
Greeley hospitals, including North Colorado Medical Center and UCHealth Greeley, as well as the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, anticipate needing an alternative care facility, according to materials provided by the board, especially as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to grow.
As of Wednesday night, Weld reported 948 positive COVID-19 cases and 57 deaths – and we still don’t know when the surge will come.
At the city council meeting, Greeley Emergency Manager Dan Frazen said Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment hasn’t published any projections on the surge.
“There are many different predictions,” he said, “but there’s no crystal ball for this.”
Frazen said he anticipated that with additional outbreaks, Weld would see an increase in positive cases and hospital cases too.
Bonell Good Samaritan Center offered up an empty 30-unit apartment complex on 22nd Street and 8th Avenue through June 7.
The county will be responsible for leasing the building, making repairs, initial cleaning, maintenance costs, and trash removal, according to materials provided by the board.
The city will take on the responsibility of inspecting the facility, identifying repairs and maintenance needs, managing contracts for operational management, site supervision, meal delivery, cots and bedding, patient supplies, and cleaning rooms after patients leave.
How much will it cost?
At the city council meeting, Assistant City Manager Becky Safarik said the city did an inspection and found some repairs the building needed, including checking smoke detectors and minor repairs to plumbing.
Safarik said the city would likely be able to tap into federal funding from FEMA and HUD to minimize the actual cost to the city.
The draft budget broke down the city’s cost like this:
$61,000 for site security and management
$11,000 for cleaning
$17,772 for food
The draft budget broke down the county’s costs like this:
$18,000 for the lease ($10/day/occupied unit)
$11,000 for cleaning
$1,645 for building repairs, specifically plumbing
Cost estimates for trash removal, personal protective equipment, furnishings and incidentals weren’t specified in the draft budget.
According to a report by the Greeley Tribune, the operational budget shows the county plans to shell out about $69,000 for leasing, cleaning and building repairs, while it will cost the city about $181,240 for security, management, cleaning and food.
On Monday, JBS donated $90,000 to the city to help with managing the facility.
The donation came as the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment ordered the meat packing plant to shut down. At least 43 JBS employees tested positive for COVID-19 since March 25, according to the order, with 14 people being hospitalized, eight intubated, and two deaths.
How would the space be used?
Mark Wallace, Weld’s director of public health, noted patients stayed in a Personal Isolation Facility for an average of 7-10 days, according to materials provided by the board.
The people who will most likely need the isolation space are folks experiencing homelessness, people living in communal settings such as jail or group homes, and people living with others who are at risk.
As it stands, projections show about 50% of the folks at the facility would come from community corrections facilities, such as the Weld County Jail, according to materials provided by the board.
At least 10 jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report in the Greeley Tribune, and according to the Denver Post, at least 13 Weld County deputies have tested positive.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit April 8 alleging Sheriff Steve Reams took a “deliberately indifferent approach to this crisis.”
Reams responded to the lawsuit, arguing the sheriff’s office began ordering more cleaning supplies, adjusting procedures and seeking guidance early on in the process.
Lawsuit aside, folks from community corrections or the Weld County Jail would be able to stay in the Personal Isolation Facility so long as they are non-violent offenders and are monitored remotely via call-ins, ankle monitors and the like, according to materials provided by the board. Law enforcement would not directly supervise them in the facility.
The other 50% would come from people experiencing homelessness or folks who can’t yet return to a vulnerable household.
With the unanimous vote Tuesday to approve the deal, city manager Roy Otto is now able to put the plan into action.