Loma Linda (Calif.) University Medical Center set up an overflow tent in its parking lot to manage an increasing volume of flu patients, reports CBS Los Angeles.
The tent will serve as a temporary waiting room for flu patients before they go into the emergency room.
The overflow tent comes after the hospital saw flu cases double in the last two weeks, according to Heather Tassone, DO, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Loma Linda University.
"We are seeing a lot of cases of flu, more so than we have in previous years," she told CBS Los Angeles. "We are seeing, in California, a greater number of deaths than last year at this time."
Nationwide, flu has already sickened an estimated 9.7 million people, according to the CDC.