Faced with the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak on St. Croix—an island with limited health care infrastructure—the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers oversaw a federal effort to rapidly deliver an alternate care facility to ensure that severely ill and infectious patients would have access to appropriate treatments.

鉴于迫切的需求，军团呼吁续联邦服务部门设计和将现有的国民警卫队军营转换为48张床位的急性护理设施，仅22天。

Conti项目主管Patrick Hogan表示，该项目的关键任务性质帮助推动了团队并推动其供应商交付。“上校Hibner [USACE Savannah区的指挥官]下来，对这项任务发表了令人激动的演讲。”他回忆道。“我们离开那里很漂亮，在22天内做了不可能的事情。”

To say that the project team for the new COVID-19 Alternate Care Facility on St. Croix went the extra mile would be an understatement. To expedite delivery of the project in the U.S. Virgin Islands, regular flights—often on small aircraft—were required to bring in workers and materials from the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico and other neighboring islands.

在该项目期间，尽管有旅行限制，但必须通过《美国法案》采购材料，并从美国大陆运输。霍根（Hogan）指出，由于供应短缺，该团队试图尽可能使用“现成”材料。在某些情况下，特定的设备来自由于封锁而关闭的工厂。霍根说，Conti呼吁其可信赖的供应商交付，即使这意味着重新开设商店。

帕特·霍根（Pat Hogan

Skids for the water pumps needed to be manufactured for the job, so Hogan says he called on a supplier who bought workers back into the shop to build the skids. “The guy had his people build it in one day,” Hogan says. “He drove it himself down to Trenton [N.J.] airport and they put it on a C-130 [airplane].”

简约的设计、交付方法下,designers worked sometimes around the clock to address project needs. The most technically complex element was the HVAC system, which required constant negative air pressure to isolate infectious patients from other patients and staff. With only 30 hours remaining until the official ribbon-cutting, testing of the negative air pressure showed a need to add additional HVAC duct to several rooms. “It just so happened that a warehouse in St. Thomas had 12 of them, so we sent a Cessna over to pick it up,” Hogan says.

帕特·霍根（Pat Hogan

团队试图在可能的情况下重复使用现有设备。工作开始时备份发电机无法正常工作。但是，该团队能够在波多黎各找到必要的备件，并将它们飞往现场。现有的火灾抑制系统也无效，需要完全更换。还必须设计一些升级以忍受5类飓风和地震活动。

岛上的劳动力受到限制，只有10％的工人来自圣克鲁瓦，另外10％来自波多黎各。其余的80％是从美国大陆飞出的。住房也受到限制，因此孔蒂（Conti）向岛上的度假胜地伸出援手接纳了其工人。餐馆也被关闭，因此团队与当地厨师联系，准备餐饮服务以带给工人。

Because Conti Federal was flying personnel in and out of St. Croix at a time when infrastructure, such as Customs and Border Protection, were being restricted, Conti Federal engaged with the U.S. Virgin Islands Dept. of Health to develop a COVID-19 assessment program. The team followed the department’s COVID-19 protocols and invited the department to monitor the team on site.

帕特·霍根（Pat Hogan

The contractor then implemented a detailed COVID-19 preparedness and response plan that established safe working guidelines for all team members. Worker protections included engineering controls, administrative controls, safe work practices, awareness training and personal protective equipment.
此外，每个船员都使用自己的一套工具（经常被消毒），船员之间没有共享。每个房间所需的材料均设有材料，以最大程度地减少材料处理和机组人员的移动。

Although crews often had to work long shifts, safety protocols were strictly enforced and there were no lost-time accidents or OSHA recordable incidents.
现场工人或员工中，Covid-19也没有爆发。尽管面临挑战，但这项640万美元的项目达到了任务，并于2020年5月8日准时完成。