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Education Dive
Colleges use empty dorms to house first responders, healthcare workers
After clearing campuses, institutions are making space available,
mostly free of charge, for people on the frontlines of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Hallie Busta
April 16, 2020
Most U.S. college campuses are empty of students and nonessential
workers. But that doesn't mean activity there has ground to a halt.
In the last few weeks, several institutions nationwide have begun
preparing their dormitories for a new group of residents: healthcare
workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of the
coronavirus pandemic. Some are pulling long hours and need a place to
rest, while others want to reduce the risk of infecting their families.
Colleges were among the first organizations to close their doors as the
virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, began spreading in the U.S.
The cramped dorms and classrooms bringing together tens or even
hundreds of students were seen as hotbeds for contagion.
With classes moved online and most students gone from campus, colleges have room to spare.
"My buildings are already there, I'm already paying for the
electricity, I'm already doing all that," said Tim Collins, president
of Walsh University, a private institution in Ohio. The university
consolidated its remaining students into two residence halls, opening
up space to house 144 healthcare workers.
Walsh isn't the only university pooling resources for its surrounding
community. Several institutions are making space available for housing
and field hospitals. Some are doubling down on research or using
fabrication labs to produce protective gear for frontline workers.
"Walsh University should be viewed as an asset to the local community,"
Collins said. "If there's something we can do, we should do it."
'A very specific need'
In Massachusetts, Tufts University President Anthony Monaco was an
early advocate of repurposing college campuses to help fight the
coronavirus. In an op-ed in the Boston Globe last month, he called on
college and university leaders to lend their institutions' resources to
their communities. That includes residence halls.
The private university has made 1,600 beds available for local
healthcare workers, medical patients and first responders, Monaco wrote
in an email to Education Dive. However, he said it's unlikely all will
be used due to factors such as isolation protocols.
Like most other residential campuses, Tufts still has some students
living there. To keep them separate from newcomers, who likely have a
higher risk of exposure to the virus, officials divided the campus into
zones.
The roughly 150 remaining students live in a dorm near their dining
location. Across campus is one dorm for patients and another for
medical personnel. Elsewhere on campus, the university opened several
small apartment houses to first responders, including police, fire and
ambulance workers. The latter includes those who have tested positive
for the coronavirus, those who are awaiting test results and those who
are healthy but can't return home because they have vulnerable family
members.
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