The Army is deploying field hospitals and medical units to New York and Washington state to help with coronavirus response efforts, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville announced late Tuesday.
McConville tweeted: “Moving on orders of @SecArmy, we’ve issued deployment orders to the 531st Hospital from Fort Campbell, KY, the 627th Hospital from Fort Carson, CO, & the 9th Hospital from Fort Hood, TX, to deploy to NY & WA to help contain #COVID19 & protect the nation.”
Two of the field hospitals are expected to go to New York City and one is expected to go to Seattle, according to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday. He added the units will go out “this week.”
Each field hospital has full hospital capability, with intensive-care-unit beds and intermediate-care beds, operating rooms, an emergency department, X-ray facilities, and a pharmacy, according to an official Army article.
The field hospitals can provide routine and emergency medical support to local medical staff, to allow them to focus on coronavirus patients, the article added.
“Army healthcare professionals are adequately equipped with first-rate training, equipment and technology in order to deal with emergent health issues,” said Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.
“Protecting the health of the force and the American people are our top priorities,” he said.
The Army Corps of Engineers is also working with New York and other states to retrofit existing structures into medical centers that can act as overflow hospital space so that civilian hospitals can treat coronavirus patients.
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