As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) has rescheduled its 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo to December 13-17, 2020.
The meeting, which was originally slated to occur July 26-30, 2020, will still be held at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
According to a press release issued by the city of Chicago, “Rescheduling the event will enable AACC to provide the experience that our attendees and exhibitors expect. The association remains committed to supporting the essential work of laboratory medicine professionals and to holding an event that unites and strengthens our industry in the face of enormous challenges.”
Part of the issue is that McCormick Place is being transformed into a temporary hospital. The Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Illinois National Guard, and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority have completed the first phase of work to transform the McCormick Place Campus into a new Alternate Care Facility (ACF) to treat low to moderate acuity COVID-19 patients, the association press release said.
The first phase delivered 500 patient rooms. The plan will bring an additional 3,000 patient rooms online by the end of the month, providing capacity to address an anticipated surge in hospitalizations around the state related to COVID-19.