Flu Tent Set up for Onslaught of Patients at Pa. Hospital

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An eastern Pennsylvania hospital dealing with an onslaught of flu patients is setting up a special tent outside the emergency room to deal with those cases.

Lehigh Valley Hospital is setting up the "mobile surge tent" on Tuesday. That's after cases were piling up at the Salisbury Township hospital Monday, with the hospital reporting an extremely busy flu season so far.

The Lehigh Valley Health Network says the tent will be accepting patients experiencing flu-like symptoms. But the health system says those patients should still report to the main emergency entrance for treatment first.

Spokesman Matthew Burns says it's too early to tell how long the tent will be open. He says it could end up growing or it could only be there a week.