Brown University Steps Up With Housing for Frontline Workers Fighting COVID-19

Brown University Steps Up With Housing for Frontline Workers Fighting COVID-19

Brown University has announced that is providing housing for up to 700 front-line healthcare and emergency workers in Rhode Island that are battling the coronavirus.

For emergency personnel and healthcare workers serving on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, increased exposure to the disease elevates the risk of infection not only for themselves, but for the family members they come home to after each shift. 

Brown has announced, that to reduce this risk of transmission between exposed workers and their households, the University has partnered with the State of Rhode Island to make several currently unoccupied student residence halls available to front-line personnel who need to isolate themselves from their families while they support the State’s COVID-19 response.

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These workers — which include local healthcare providers, National Guard members, and city and state emergency personnel — are being provided short-term housing in dorms on Brown’s Pembroke Campus. If additional housing is needed, the University is also prepared to provide space in Keeney Quad, one of Brown’s primary residences typically used for first-year students, said Brown.

Both Pembroke Campus and Keeney Quad are currently vacant following the departure of students from campus in mid-March as part of Brown’s transition to remote learning to stem the spread of novel coronavirus.

Through the arrangement with the state, the University could provide housing to several hundred individuals, depending on need and how the temporary residents are spaced. The University has identified more than 700 beds based on one-person occupancy per room.

Partnering with the state on this initiative provides the University with another opportunity to give back to community members playing critical roles in Rhode Island’s response to the current public health crisis, said Russell Carey, executive vice president for planning and policy at Brown.

Prior to this effort, the University has also donated lab supplies and protective equipment in the fight against COVID-19, while Brown researchers continue to help track the spread of the disease, and medical students have graduated early to begin work in hospitals, among other efforts.

“With this partnership, Brown has an opportunity to help people who are helping everybody else,” Carey said. “It is our hope that providing these front-line personnel with a housing option that keeps their loved ones safer makes it a little bit easier for them to do the incredibly difficult job that has to be done.”

The State is working in conjunction with employers of front-line personnel — including the Lifespan and Care New England health systems— to identify the individuals who will occupy the residence halls. The National Guard is overseeing and providing all support required to manage these housing arrangements, including contracting with a third-party vendor to provide custodial services.