Looks like there is a trend going on in the United States to set up field hospitals in large locations to
alleviate the stress on brick and mortar hospitals. Because there are no sporting events going on,
there are a lot of large facilities sitting empty.

CenturyLink Field in Seattle is going to be used to handle non-COVID cases with 300 soldier’s from
Colorado’s 627th Army Hospital in Fort Carson being deployed to work there. It will provide 150
hospital beds.

New York City is building a 1,000-bed field hospital at the Javits Center with the help of the New York
National Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Some patients with COVID-19 in New Orleans, Louisiana will be moved to the New Orleans
convention center which will be used for overflow COVID-19 patients. The state is planning to put
more than 1,110 beds in the facility.

Ohio is considering the use of hotels and dorm rooms if hospitals get overwhelmed. The state’s
hospital system currently is at 60% capacity. The new locations would be used either to relocate
COVID-19 patients currently in the hospital or to treat future patients who get the virus.

Cincinnati, Ohio is looking to use the Duke Energy Convention Center to treat non-coronavirus
patients. Mayor John Cranley believes this is the best use of the space because the hospitals are “in
the best position to deal with people with the virus.”

Meanwhile, the federal government is helping the states with space as well by giving some of the
worst hit areas U.S. Navy hospital ships to use. This will be the first time they’ve been used in the
United States.

The USNS Mercy has already arrived in Los Angeles with 900 staff on board. This ship will assist with
non-coronavirus patients.

The USNS Comfort is on its way to New York with Trump bidding them farewell in person over the
weekend in Virginia. Both have 1000 beds and are about three football fields long. They have 12
operating rooms, a blood bank, medical lab, pharmacy, CT scan equipment and 80 ICU beds.

Republican congressional candidate and Navy nurse, Lynne Blankenbeker of Concord, New
Hampshire will be on board the Comfort ship, taking care of patients. She is a veteran emergency
room nurse who was deployed in the Gulf War and the War in Afghanistan.

“This is honestly a distinct honor and privilege to be able to step up for America,” Blankenbecker told
Fox News. “I have always run toward a fight and this is an opportunity for us to steam towards the
epicenter of this invisible enemy and do our part for helping America … and I’m just grateful to be able
to offer my skillset and do my part.”

The Navy saying “so others may live” has a whole new meaning in 2020. Here’s wishing everyone
they are treating a happy voyage home.