Hospital Officials Reportedly Furious as Navy Medical Ship Won’t Take Corona Patients, Has 98% of Beds Unclaimed: ‘It’s a Joke’

Dimitrios Kambouris/ Getty Images

Hospital officials are furious over the fact that theNavy hospital ship, the U.S.N.S. Comfort, is sitting nearly empty in the New York Harbor after arriving earlier this week — despite crowded hospitals filled with coronavirus patients throughout the city.

According to a new report from The New York Times, there are currently only 20 patients onboard the 1,000-bed floating medical hospital.

The U.S.N.S. Comfort was dispatched to New York to alleviate the strain off hospitals in the city – by caring for patients who don’t have covid-19

The report states that another Navy medical ship docked in Los Angeles, the U.S.N.S. Mercy, has just 15 patients on board.

Michael Dowling, who heads Northwell Health — the largest hospital system in New York City — told The New York Times, the ship’s empty hauls and vacant beds are a “joke.”

“If I’m blunt about it, it’s a joke,” Dowling said. “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.”

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