April 20, 2020 | BY NAVY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS SCOTT
BIGLEY
The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort has
begun admitting patients from hospitals in New Jersey in an effort to expand
its support of the nation's COVID-19 response efforts.
New Jersey state hospitals coordinated with Comfort doctors
to ensure patients could be effectively transferred across state lines and
aboard the ship to receive care.
"Every one of those that we pull from the community or
from the city hospitals is one more open bed for New Jersey hospitals to
refill," said Navy Capt. (Dr.) Patrick Amersbach, commanding officer of
the medical treatment facility aboard Comfort. "I'm very proud of the
crew, our medical providers, nurses, support staff that are providing
outstanding care to the people of New York City and New Jersey. We look at it
as one patient at a time."
Moored in New York, the ship serves as a referral hospital
for critical and noncritical patients without regard to their COVID-19 status.
Comfort is working with Javits New York Medical Station, federal and state
officials as an integrated system to relieve the medical systems for both New
York City, as well as nearby New Jersey, in support of U.S. Northern Command's
Defense Support of Civil Authorities as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Comfort is a seagoing medical treatment facility that has
more than 1,200 personnel embarked for the New York mission, including Navy
medical and support staff assembled from 22 commands and civil service
mariners.
(Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Bigley is assigned to
U.S. 2nd Fleet.)
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