The University of Pittsburgh is opening a student dormitory on campus to house health care workers from adjoining UPMC facilities during the coronavirus pandemic.
Students are being moved out of Lothrop Hall, which is connected via skywalk to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and the university’s School of Nursing, to accommodate doctors and nurses, according to spokesman Kevin Zwick.
“The university is taking additional steps to help during this crisis by opening Lothrop Hall as no-cost, convenient housing available to area health care workers during the covid-19 pandemic,” Zwick said Tuesday.
He said the building has been cleaned and sanitized and several healthcare workers are now living there. The university has received no reports of former residents being infected with covid-19, he said.
Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher told the Pitt News that the university is considering making other facilities available to house covid-19 patients if necessary.
Lothrop can house up to 723 students in single and double rooms on 14 floors, according to the university.
About 500 students remained on campus as of Monday, but the university is only providing essential housing and take-out dining.
Kenyon Bonner, Pitt’s vice provost and dean of students, last week issued an email to students listing other restrictions.
A Pitt student living in a campus residence hall tested positive for covid-19, university officials said Sunday. The student is isolating at home, Zwick said. The university said the student had resided at Holland Hall.
