The 1,000-Bed Comfort Was Supposed to Aid New York. It Has 3 Patients. "It's a joke"

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-usns-comfort.html



“It’s a joke,” said a top hospital executive, whose facilities are packed with coronavirus patients.

By Michael Schwirtz

April 2, 2020
Updated 8:34 p.m. ET

Such were the expectations for the Navy hospital ship U.S.N.S. Comfort that when it chugged into New York Harbor this week, throngs of people, momentarily forgetting the strictures of social distancing, crammed together along Manhattan’s west side to catch a glimpse.

On Thursday, though, the huge white vessel, which officials had promised would bring succor to a city on the brink, sat mostly empty, infuriating local hospital executives. The ship’s 1,000 beds are largely unused, its 1,200-member crew mostly idle.

Only three patients had been transferred to the ship, officials said, even as New York hospitals struggled to find space for the thousands infected with the coronavirus. Another Navy hospital ship, the U.S.N.S. Mercy, docked in Los Angeles, has had a total of 15 patients, officials said.

“If I’m blunt about it, it’s a joke,” said Michael Dowling, the head of Northwell Health, New York’s largest hospital system. “Everyone can say, ‘Thank you for putting up these wonderful places and opening up these cavernous halls.’ But we’re in a crisis here, we’re in a battlefield.”

</snip>

[dewsgirl]

1. K and R such BS.

[gibraltar72]

2. Little Comfort and Strained Mercy.

[SheltieLover]

3. WTF??? 🤬

Even this is a lie????

[Botany]

4. It is not meant for C-19 patients it is to take the stress off the hospitals for other "things"

Broken bones, babies, heart attacks, I really fucking hate Trump syndrome, and ....

[Ms. Toad]

9. Correct - and it is the inabilty to handle other things that apparently makes it a joke.

A tangle of military protocols and bureaucratic hurdles has prevented the Comfort from accepting many patients at all.

On top of its strict rules preventing people infected with the virus from coming on board, the Navy is also refusing to treat a host of other conditions. Guidelines disseminated to hospitals included a list of 49 medical conditions that would exclude a patient from admittance to the ship.

Ambulances cannot take patients directly to the Comfort; they must first deliver patients to a city hospital for a lengthy evaluation — including a test for the virus — and then pick them up again for transport to the ship.

(from the article)

I've seen this allegation twice, and my reaction was the same as yours - it wasn't intended to take COVID 19 patients. But down at the bottom of the article, after they get done picking it apart, they actually explain what it is that is ridiculous.

[Botany]

12. Give 'em time ... very soon they will be taking patients right to the ship

They might have to do triage on the dock.

[dem4decades]

5. I thought they were for non Covid patients, is that not true?

Either we should be happy thers not enough non covid patients to go there or they can start taking them.

[dhol82]

6. Just to be fair, these ships were meant to be backup for "normal" patients.

They were not meant for Covid patients.
These guys were supposed to take care of the heart attacks, gall bladders and broken arms of the rest of the world.
The ships don’t have the capability of total virus control.

[William769]

7. I'm a little confused here

Weren't these ship not suppose to take NON COVID patients so the hospitals could treat the COVID patients? Am I missing something?

[magicarpet]

8. Same thing in Puerto Rico,...

Had the ship docked there with much fanfare but saw little service. What do they play Canasta, Cribbage and Hearts card games on the ship all day ?

[defacto7]

10. That's what happened in Puerto Rico when the hospital ship arrived.

after the hurricane.

[zackymilly]

11. If these ships aren't full of patients, isn't that a good thing?

Doesn't that mean the hospitals are not so overrun with covid-19 patients right now, that they are able to handle the other patients too?

[Igel]

17. See post 9.

That was my first inference, but apparently there are other restrictions on who can be admitted.

I knew they were checking for COVID-19 prior to letting them on, but I didn't know there were other restrictions.

[sarisataka]

13. It wasn't sent there for Covid patients

If the hospitals are not transferring non-Covid patients, that is on them.

[SoCalDem]

14. Remember Puerto Rico?

not much help there either., It's a publicity stunt..a photo op


"puerto rico hurricane hospital ship" copypaste this in google..read it and weep..and know how helpful it will be to NYC

one article

Search Results
Web results

Amid Puerto Rico Disaster, Hospital Ship Admitted Just 6 ...www.nytimes.com › puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-hospital-ship
Dec 6, 2017 - The military hospital ship, the U.S.N.S. Comfort, spent nearly two months supporting humanitarian relief in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

[csziggy]

15. DIdn't something similar happen in Puerto Rico with a US hospital ship?

Shit, it was the SAME SHIP!

There's a hospital ship waiting for sick Puerto Ricans -- but no one knows how to get on it
Mallory Simon-Profile-Image

By Leyla Santiago and Mallory Simon, CNN

Updated 7:37 PM ET, Tue October 17, 2017

San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN)Sammy Rolon is living in a makeshift clinic set up at a school. He has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and is bedridden. He's waiting for surgery that was scheduled before Hurricane Maria smashed into Puerto Rico. Now, he can't even get the oxygen he needs.

There is help available for the 18-year-old -- right offshore. A floating state-of-the-art hospital, the USNS Comfort, could provide critical care, his doctor says.

<SNIP>

Clinics that are overwhelmed with patients and staff say they don't even know how to begin sending cases to the ship. Doctors say there's a rumor that patients have to be admitted to a central hospital before they can be transferred to the Comfort.

Only 33 of the 250 beds on the Comfort -- 13% -- are being used, nearly two weeks after the ship arrived.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the official protocol is for patients in need to go to their nearest medical facility. If that facility is unable to provide care, a doctor there should contact the medical coordinating center in San Juan.

MORE: https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/health/puerto-rico-hospital-ship/index.html

[SoCalDem]

16. jinx

gmta