Cuomo announces statewide public-private hospital plan to fight COVID-19

State Department of Health will work with statewide health care systems to create a command center to share information about supplies among hospitals

Announces first 1,000-bed temporary hospital at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center open and accepting patients

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday announced a statewide public-private hospital plan to fight COVID-19. As part of the plan, public and private hospitals from across the state have agreed to implement a new balanced approach to fighting the virus where hospitals that are beginning to reach or exceed capacity can transfer patients to other hospitals that are not as full.

The hospital systems across the state have also agreed to share supplies, staff and other resources as needed. The State Department of Health will work with the statewide health care system to create a command center to share information between hospitals about the supplies each hospital has in stock and the supplies each hospital is ordering. This central inventory system will help ensure purchasing and distribution of supplies is done strategically and efficiently.

The governor also announced the first 1,000-bed temporary hospital at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is open and accepting patients. The temporary hospital site was constructed in one week.

"As the numbers continue to increase, the situation is becoming painfully clear that the front line battle of this virus will be fought in our health care system," Cuomo said. "We need more health care professionals, we need more supplies, we need more capacity and we need it now. The entire country has been playing catchup with this virus since day one, but in New York we have been trying to plan forward and get ahead of the problem. We are continuing to stockpile supplies in preparation for the apex of the curve, and we have reached an agreement with the statewide health care system to coordinate and work together as one entity to balance the load of patients and share staff and resources."