KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking ahead in the COVID-19 fight to find places to house patients.
The Department of Defense sent out an "informational/marketing" request to see if any Kansas or Missouri construction companies have the capabilities and qualifications to configure preexisting buildings for patient care.
Possible buildings include hotels and convention centers, according to the request.
Potential work listed includes removing carpeting, revising HVAC equipment and ducting to accommodate HEPA filtration, adding nurse's stations, privacy curtains, and patient screening areas.
Those buildings would be used to increase medical treatment capacity in the fight against COVID-19, according to the notice.
In the filing, the Corps said any facility must be located within 10 miles of Missouri and Kansas hospitals and medical centers.
The Corps wants to hear from companies in and around Kansas and Missouri, with the ability to work in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield. Topeka, and Wichita.
There won't be much time to get ready.
The notice states companies will be required to mobilize within one to two calendar days of contract award, and the work would be completed within an immediate three-week timeline.
The Corps made it clear this was not a request-for-proposal or bid. The Corps said "there is currently no known requirement for these services to be provided" and the purpose of this request was strictly for market research.
For more information, contact the Contracting Division of Engineers in Kansas City, Missouri, at 816-389-3812.
