New York lawmakers call for deployment of Navy hospital ship to NYC amid coronavirus outbreak

[mystery-ak]

New York lawmakers call for deployment of Navy hospital ship to NYC amid coronavirus outbreak
By Rebecca Kheel - 03/17/20 04:10 PM EDT

A quartet of House lawmakers from New York is asking President Trump to deploy a Navy hospital ship to New York City to treat non-coronavirus patients as hospitals become slammed with patients suffering from the virus.

“We write to ask that you immediately ready the naval hospital ship USNS Comfort, currently being refitted in Norfolk, VA for deployment to New York City in support of our city’s fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic,” the lawmakers wrote to Trump and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday.

“The sight of Navy hospital ships in New York harbor, ready to assist our own frontline healthcare providers, will be a welcome one indeed,” they added. “As always, we are confident that the Navy will rise to the occasion when called upon by our nation, and we thank you in advance for your assistance.”


The letter was signed by Democratic New York Reps. Max Rose, José Serrano, Tom Suozzi and Nydia Velázquez.

more
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/488074-new-york-lawmakers-call-for-deployment-of-navy-hospital-ship-to-nyc-amid

[PeteS in CA]

Absent evidence of current need, this is obvious shit-stirring.

[Gefn]

Everyone I know, including me are self isolating. Supposedly our cell phones will be getting some kinda announcement like an Amber alert on our phones from Mayor DiBlasio to all pnones in a 35-50 mile radius of the five boroughs.

[PeteS in CA]

From what I've seen elsewhere, the USN's two hospital ships are preparing to deploy to sites that have special need. Common sense logistics would be to pre-position them, once ready, to some port where they could be moved relatively quickly to places of need. For the East Coast, that would probably be Norfolk, not NYC. And in the current political climate, moving a hospital ship from NY harbor to some site of need would set off a Hate-Trump firestorm from NYC's Dem pols. Keeping a ship in Norfolk would also catch flak - this "request" is designed to be "Damned, whatever he does" shit-stirring, but keeping a ship in Norfolk could be reasonably explained.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Mercy_(T-AH-19)#General_characteristics ,

Patient Capacity:

Intensive care wards: 80 beds
Recovery wards: 20 beds
Intermediate care wards: 280 beds
Light care wards: 120 beds
Limited care wards: 500 beds
Total Patient Capacity: 1000 beds
Operating Rooms: 12

Are hospital resources in the NYC area so constrained that these 500-1000 beds (number depending on some improvisation) would be a major contribution to capacity? Looking over these lists of hospitals in just the 5 boroughs, I doubt it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_Manhattan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_the_Bronx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_Brooklyn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_Queens

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_Staten_Island