Foxconn Facility Could Help in Pandemic
New building isn’t manufacturing anything but could become emergency treatment center.
So Foxconn’s main Mt. Pleasant building is up; here’s an innovative plan for the nearly one-million-square-foot structure and the company’s “innovation centers” around the state — in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire and Madison — that are idle or under utilized:
With the help of the Wisconsin National Guard, re-purpose those properties into the kind of temporary emergency COVID-19 treatment centers that New York City is opening.
The military knows how to do this. If our troops could quickly set up fast-response medical facilities in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak, they can do it here and take the pressure off established hospitals in Milwaukee, Chicago – – where McCormick Place is being turned into a hospital – – and elsewhere in the region which are going to be overrun with patients.
Two local businesses in SE Wisconsin have already shown the way. Let’s think even bigger.
The state should prioritize the completion of utility hookups, bring in local food preparation personnel and get some immediate benefit for the people from the millions in taxpayer dollars already invested in site acquisition, infrastructure and other services and in the process show the world that it’s Marshall Plan time in SE Wisconsin.
And marshal the resources and opportunities we might be overlooking.
And think of the goodwill it would engender for Foxconn in Wisconsin if the company made the offer and funded the transition.
Not to mention re-imaging the new I-94 lanes between Milwaukee and the Illinois state line from the death trap into a life line.
James Rowen, a former journalist and mayoral staffer in Milwaukee and Madison, writes a regular blog, The Political Environment.
More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- DHS Urges COVID-19 Vaccination for a Healthy School Year - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Aug 15th, 2022
- Milwaukee Health Department Begins Administering Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Aug 9th, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Aug 5th, 2022
- MKE County: COVID-19 Still Rising in Milwaukee - Graham Kilmer - Jul 29th, 2022
- Public Awareness Campaign Seeks to Boost COVID-19 Vaccinations - PrincessSafiya Byers - Jul 28th, 2022
- Nearly Half of State Has High COVID-19 Level - Erik Gunn - Jul 24th, 2022
- MKE County: COVID-19 Level Increasing In Milwaukee - Graham Kilmer - Jul 22nd, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Jul 22nd, 2022
- MKE County: Milwaukee County Has High Level of COVID-19 - Graham Kilmer - Jul 15th, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Jul 15th, 2022
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
More about the Foxconn Facility
- Last Home in Foxconn Site Could Be Sold - Evan Casey - Jul 27th, 2022
- UW-Madison Hires Former Foxconn Executive - Rich Kremer - Apr 5th, 2022
- Nelson Calls on Congressional Oversight Committees to Pursue Information on Botched Foxconn-Oshkosh Defense Postal Deal - Tom Nelson - Mar 30th, 2022
- Foxconn Rebuffed Oshkosh Defense Bid to Build Mail Trucks? - Rich Kremer - Mar 28th, 2022
- Huge Foxconn Campus Remains A Puzzle - Denise Lockwood - Mar 28th, 2022
- Mount Pleasant Seeks Company for Foxconn Site - Bridgit Bowden - Mar 24th, 2022
- Rep. Bowen Statement on Foxconn Turning Its Back on Wisconsin Yet Again - State Rep. David Bowen - Mar 17th, 2022
- Back in the News: Foxconn In Talks for Saudi Arabian Plant - Bruce Murphy - Mar 16th, 2022
- Mt Pleasant Attorney Pushed Board to Extend Term Lengths - Corri Hess - Mar 9th, 2022
- As Foxconn Fails, Mt. Pleasant Board Extends Term Lengths - Corri Hess - Mar 1st, 2022
Read more about Foxconn Facility here
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