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April 3, 2003
Halifax Medical Center offers soldiers beds
News-Journal Staff Report
DAYTONA BEACH — U.S. soldiers wounded in war or people hurt in a terrorist attack could end up being treated at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
The hospital and the National Disaster Medical System have agreed that if the federal government's hospital system becomes overwhelmed, Halifax would take the overflow, John E. Evans, a Halifax spokesman, said Wednesday.
With a 24-hour notice, up to 25 beds would be made available at Halifax, and another 100 could potentially be set up at its nearby Atlantic medical facility, a former hospital that currently is not set up for in-patient care.
"We'd need an additional four or five days' notice there to get it ready," Evans said.
Soldiers were last treated at Halifax from 1942 to 1947, when the hospital was leased to and operated by the Army.
The Medical System is made up of many state and federal agencies and private groups. Among other roles during potential disasters, it has 100,000 hospital beds committed throughout the country.