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New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

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Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#61

Post by marcosdumay »

beamatronic wrote: post #19
vanniv wrote: post #4

Cruise ships aren't bad options either. I hear they're a bit underutilized

They’ve never solved the sanitation problem. But perhaps small changes could be made to future ship designs, to allow them to be re-purposed

> to allow them to be re-purposed

Or, maybe just to make sure they are not super powerful disease spreaders on normal times.

I imagine they are hard to regulate, but a country can make some seal of approval, and maybe even punish people seeking treatment for transmissible diseases after they come from one without the seal. (Even tough that second one is very heavy handed and hopefully unnecessary.)

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#62

Post by dave5104 »

untog wrote: post #45
i_am_proteus wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the nature of response varies so much in between different locations and local expertise is often best poised to deal with local problems. Federal resources are better for things like logistics (ship 500,000 masks to where they're needed), but New York probably knows how to get aid to New York best. Ignoring local expertise to blindly chase efficiency of large-scale enterprise is perilous.

> Because the nature of response varies so much in between different locations and local expertise is often best poised to deal with local problems. Is that really true here? I can certainly see an urban vs rural divide, but beyond that I can’t see what makes individual states all that different.

Don't want to get too political here, but if you consolidated the response to COVID-19 to the federal government and didn't allow states and county public health officials to act, we'd probably be in much worse shape.

I don't like the idea of consolidating pandemic readiness to a single entity that may or may not be up to the challenge of addressing it.

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#63

Post by heavenlyblue »

robotbikes wrote: post #47

In Ohio they had the head of the state association of hospitals float the idea at a press conference. He seemed to talking about the possibility taking floors of existing hotels and using them for non COVID19 patients that didn't require super urgent care so that wouldn't be in danger of getting infected if/when the hospitals begin to fill up with people dealing with COVID19. They also asked doctors, dentists and vet…

And here we find a way to actually sustain those businesses while they don’t have any non-Healthcare clients

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#64

Post by jedberg »

There was a guy on here a few days ago who owns some hotels.

He said he would be fine with this as long as they:

paid to move his current customers to his other hotels,

cleaned the rooms and returned them to their original condition when they were done,

provided safety gear to his employees that would need to keep working,

and provide paychecks for his employees that are furloughed.

I think. I can't find the comment now but that was the gist of it.

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#65

Post by kube-system »

untog wrote: post #34
syntaxing wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree but not to be pedant, but state governments should have some sort of emergency provisions as well. Some people forget we're the United States for a reason. Each state is actually it's own "functional" government. Maybe we should start training state troopers as well for some of these possibilities.

I look at it the other way. Why does it all have to be done at a state level? Because that's how things have always been? Meh. There are very clear efficiencies to be gained by coordinating response to events like this at a national level, and it's not like individual states are about to declare independence. Over time the structure of the US could end up being more of a weakness than a strength. It's not as if the v…

There are both pros and cons to a federal system vs a unitary system, but this is not really the time to debate whether or not we chose the right system of government, nor do I think the logistics for responding to global pandemics is the most important criteria for selecting a form of government.

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#66

Post by marcosdumay »

mistrial9 wrote: post #32
syntaxing wrote: post #6

Paywalled but judging by the headline, it's honestly an interesting and great idea. Pay the hotels so they can survive, create a conversion plan with certain standards (Changing all filters to MERV-13 or something), and start auditing the process.

yeah - except surplus profits for decades built more destination vacation sites, luxury hotels and shopping malls, and not rank-and-file housing, due to profits.. you are enthusiastically adding to the cash flow of those decisions... when does this end?

I dunno, but if one needs the beds, why not hire them?

Anyway, I doubt investment in tourism infrastructure is a large obstacle for building new houses. I would look elsewhere first.

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#67

Post by Alex3917 »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #13

That sounds like a good idea. I hope one thing comes out of this pandemic: that our governments, local and federal, stockpile portable tent hospitals and equipment that can be put in place quickly for future problems. I doubt this will happen in the USA, but that is what I hope happens. I think health infrastructure is part of national security and should receive appropriate resources.

> That sounds like a good idea.

Keep in mind the "hotels" that NYC contracts for things like this are usually overrun with bed bugs and meth-addled hookers. Not exactly the kind of place you'd want to go to avoid a nosocomial infection.

C.f.: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-routinely-put-homel...

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#68

Post by cultus »

mistrial9 wrote: post #32
syntaxing wrote: post #6

Paywalled but judging by the headline, it's honestly an interesting and great idea. Pay the hotels so they can survive, create a conversion plan with certain standards (Changing all filters to MERV-13 or something), and start auditing the process.

yeah - except surplus profits for decades built more destination vacation sites, luxury hotels and shopping malls, and not rank-and-file housing, due to profits.. you are enthusiastically adding to the cash flow of those decisions... when does this end?

It doesn't end. Plutocracy breeds more plutocracy. There's a positive feedback loop because more money buys more governmental influence (i.e., rent seeking), which then gets more money.

Re: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels into Hospitals

#69

Post by tehjoker »

heavenlyblue wrote: post #63
robotbikes wrote: post #47

In Ohio they had the head of the state association of hospitals float the idea at a press conference. He seemed to talking about the possibility taking floors of existing hotels and using them for non COVID19 patients that didn't require super urgent care so that wouldn't be in danger of getting infected if/when the hospitals begin to fill up with people dealing with COVID19. They also asked doctors, dentists and vet…

And here we find a way to actually sustain those businesses while they don’t have any non-Healthcare clients

We need to stop worrying about business owners and start worrying about our fellow workers. Let the state nationalize them if need be.
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