NASHVILLE DISTRICT RESPONDS TO A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

GREAT LAKES AND OHIO RIVER DIVISION

BY DANIEL BARRIOS, Nashville District

Tennessee is known as the “Volunteer State.” When America called, Tennesseans stepped forward to fight COVID-19. On March 21, while recovering from a tornado’s damages just a week prior, Lt. Col. Sonny Avichal, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Nashville District, signed an emergency declaration for the COVID-19 response, activating the Emergency Operations Center.

On April 2, President Donald Trump ordered USACE and the Nashville District to build alternative care sites to accommodate patient overflows in civilian hospitals. The district accomplished the mission by constructing world-class facilities in Memphis and Nashville in record time.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Response Task Force comprised 118 Tennessee employees who volunteered to mobilize for the mission in Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Memphis.

Emergency command vehicles rotated to locations around the state and deployed to assist in Detroit and Novi, Michigan. Engineering teams conducted 45 site assessments of proposed locations across the state.

They rapidly provided vital information needed for leadership within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) to select the best locations and to commit FEMA funding to start construction.

Two locations were selected: the Commercial Appeal building in Memphis and Nashville General Hospital. Commercial Appeal would have 401 beds and Nashville General Hospital 67, with a budget of $55 million and $10.5 million, respectively.

Literally within hours of receiving the mission task order, contracts were signed and the mission commenced. Under normal circumstances, the Nashville project would have taken five to nine months to complete, but USACE, in partnership with Turner Construction, accomplished the task in just 28 days.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said, “To be able to pull this off and accomplish this in the middle of a pandemic and health crisis is an incredible opportunity for our community.”

The $7.2 million project included a full-service under-pressure medical suite with enough space to care for more than 67 non-acute COVID-19 patients.

Great Lakes and Ohio River Division Commander Maj. Gen. Robert F. Whittle Jr., said, “Great things can happen when we work together at the federal, state, and local levels.”

Pictured from left to right: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Gen. Robert F. Whittle Jr., commander of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, presents Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville Mayor John Cooper a plaque to commemorate the alternate care site construction turnover ceremony at the Nashville General Hospital project, June 5, 2020.

A unique aspect of Nashville General Hospital is that it is the only operating hospital-based alternate care site in the nation, which necessitated the safety of the crew and hospital staff in an active bio-hazard environment while constructing the project.

“Working in an active hospital environment to ensure crew safety was the priority, and we were very proud to deliver the site on schedule,” said Loren McDonald, mission manager.

“The overwhelming cooperation between agencies to deliver these projects was critical, and it took above-and-beyond effort by everyone,” McDonald said. “But there is a silver lining, [and] there is nothing like emergency response management when it comes to seeing immediate results of your work.”