The US Navy hospital ship Comfort that President Trump said would be dispatched to New York to help with medical care during the battle against the coronavirus won’t be ready for weeks, according to a report.
“The Comfort is currently in for maintenance in Norfolk, so they are going to expedite the maintenance if they can and prepare it,” Jonathan Hoffman, assistant defense secretary for public affairs, told CNBC.
“That’s not a days issue, that is a weeks issue. So it’s gonna be a little while,” he said Wednesday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced earlier Wednesday that Trump had agreed to send the USNS Comfort — which has 1,000 beds and 12 fully equipped operating rooms — to New York Harbor, where it is expected to treat non-coronavirus patients, freeing up local hospital space and equipment.
Trump said a second hospital ship, the USNS Mercy, would be deployed to aid bug-battling efforts on the West Coast. The ship is being spruced up off San Diego and is not yet staffed with a medical crew, NBC News has reported.
“With regard to the Mercy, the Mercy will be prepared and ready to go much sooner, it has had a warning order to get ready for the last few days, so they are hopefully going to be able to go in days, not weeks,” Hoffman told CNBC.
When activated, both floating hospitals are staffed with medical personnel, supplies and equipment.
The massive converted supertankers each have a crew of about 70 and up to 1,200 physicians, nurses and other medical workers, according to Popular Mechanics.
Although they are part of the Navy, the vessels are classified as auxiliaries, like tankers and logistic ships, rather than warships — hence the prefix USNS, for US Naval Service, and not USS, for United States Ship.
They also are staffed by civilians, not US Navy personnel, who serve under contract with the military.
Each 894-foot-long ship includes digital radiological services, a medical lab, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, a CAT-scan machine and two oxygen-producing plants, as well as a helicopter landing pad.