Navy hospital ship arrives in LA. Here’s what it can do to help during pandemic
The Navy’s Mercy Hospital Ship (T-AH-19) arrived in the Port of Los Angeles on Friday to shore up land-based hospitals for the expected barrage of COVID-19 cases in coming weeks.
Staffed with 1,100 military medical personnel, the ship is ready to take on 1,000 non-COVID-19 adult patients to free up hospital beds, ventilators and medical personnel to care for coronavirus victims.
“You would be surprised once you get onboard, it looks like a regular hospital” said Capt. John Rotruck, Mercy’s commanding officer and a board-certified cardiac anesthesiologist.
He has been the commander of the hospital ship since 2018.
Mercy’s primary mission is providing mobile, acute surgical medical facility to the U.S. military but it can also be used for disaster relief and humanitarian operations in the U.S. and globally. In 2018, it was sent to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
The ship is 894 feet long, which is about five stories longer than San Francisco’s TransAmerica Pyramid is tall.
Rotruck said one of the biggest challenges has been opening up a 1,000 bed hospital in five days, including training personnel who haven’t worked together before.
At the request of Gov. Gavin Newsom, FEMA dispatched assistance from the Department of Defense, which deployed the Mercy and it set sail to Los Angeles from its home port in San Diego on March 23.
The Mercy’s sister ship USNS Comfort, will depart for New York City from the Naval Station in Norfolk VA on Saturday.
Although a welcome site to Californians, the ship’s 1,000 beds will provide a fraction of the 50,000 additional beds Newsom’s office projects the state will need as coronavirus patients pour into California hospitals, threatening to overwhelm them.
The state’s hospitals have about 75,000 beds and normally operate close to capacity, leaving officials scrambling to add more beds in hospital outbuildings and tents in hospital parking lots.
Newsom is scheduled to tour the Mercy on Friday.
Capabilities of Mercy
The seafaring hospital has 12 fully equipped operating rooms, intensive care unit and the equivalent of 15 wards capable of providing comprehensive care for adults. No obstetric or pediatric care is planned.
In addition to the crew, 58 reservists are onboard. They include health care personnel from eight military treatment facilities in the western U.S., primarily in California and Washington.
Adding civilian doctors and other volunteers to the military crew is not planned at this time.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn was at the Port of Los Angeles for the arrival of the Mercy, which docked in a berth typically used by Princess Cruise Line ships.
“The Port of LA is perfect place for this ship to dock as we’re becoming the epicenter for this very deadly coronavirus,” Hahn said.
Screening for COVID-19
Rotruck said all personnel were screened for coronavirus infection before being allowed to board Mercy.
“We’re still working with the state of California and local authorities for procedures for testing patients before transferring to the ship,” said Rotruck.
Rotruck said the ship does not have the rooms equipped with special air ventilation using negative pressure needed for isolating patients with airborne pathogens such as the coronavirus. However, personnel can care for patients with infections that don’t need those precautions.
Local, and possibly regional, hospitals may begin shuttling patients to the floating hospital as soon as Saturday. They will identify patients eligible for transfer to Mercy and talk with the crew, through a process established by local authorities. The Mercy staff will validate that they can provide the needed care for the patient.
Once the Mercy team approves, the patient will be transferred via by ground transportation.
No family members will be allowed onboard. However, Rotruck said, “We have behavioral health professionals and chaplains to help maintain communications with the families.”
“Northern California, Southern California and the middle of our state, we’re in this together,” said Hahn. “Let’s turn the tide here in California and flatten the curve, so our hospitals and medical personnel aren’t overwhelmed.”
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Navy hospital ship arrives in LA. Here’s what it can do to help during pandemic."
