City of El Paso buys several buildings to convert into Covid-19 response facilities
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — City leaders revealed new details about their long-term strategies to address the pandemic during a marathon City Council meeting Monday. One project they hope will help is the acquisition of new properties to house Covid-19 response efforts.
“Property acquisition is critical to the long term response to Covid-19,” said El Paso Fire Chief Mario D’Agostino. “It was determined early on that the current facilities would not meet the demand placed on us due to this pandemic.”
New properties acquired by the city throughout El Paso will serve a variety of purposes. At least one will expand lab services and assist in the processing of Covid-19 tests. Another will offer a warehouse site to consolidate and house personal protective equipment. D’Agostino said the city is currently multiple facilities to store this equipment and it has been difficult to keep track of inventory.
Another new city property in Downtown will house a Covid response center, which the city hopes will streamline contact tracing efforts and community education. The facility is located at 200 N Kansas St. and was listed as 22% complete as of Monday’s meeting.
Another priority for city leaders in the purchase of new properties is the establishment of new community health clinics. The clinics will solely provide coronavirus-related services such as testing and ultimately immunization. They have been designated in areas that are primarily low-income and medically underserved. They can also all be accessed by public transportation. D’Agostino said car-ownership should not be a barrier to Covid-19 testing.
“The need for this was evident in that we need to keep Covid separate from other services. That was determined early on. We don't want to lose clients we're currently serving,” he said. “We don't want them not going to location because they're worried about Covid or any other possible contamination.”
In total, the new facilities should cost about $37 million. A portion of the funding for the properties will come from the CARES Act.
