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FEMA To Begin "Strategic Drawdown" Of Largely Empty Javits Center And USNS Comfort
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 24, 2020
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Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 24, 2020
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The federal government is moving forward with plans to shutter the little-used field hospital inside the Javits Center, as the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York continues to decline. The USNS Comfort, also practically empty, is expected to soon depart as well, President Donald Trump announced earlier this week.
"We are encouraged by the data which suggest the curve is flattening in New York and we are working with the city and state to begin the strategic drawdown of resources," a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Gothamist on Friday.
The spokesperson said there was no set date for either closure. But according to a FEMA official who spoke with ABC News, the Navy ship will leave New York as soon as April 30th. The Javits Center is slated to close on April 30th, according to the unnamed official.
The two facilities have treated 1,100 patients in total, and never came close to approaching their full capacity. As of Friday, just 32 patients were receiving care aboard the Comfort, which has space for 1,000 people, the FEMA spokesperson said. Of the 2,500 beds inside the Javits Center reserved for COVID-19 patients, only 141 were full.
Hospital workers have previously complained about the strict intake procedures at the two Department of Defense facilities, pointing to a 25-point checklist that excluded many would-be patients from being transferred from overrun hospitals, according to the Post.
Nursing home operators have also questioned why neither facility was made available for symptomatic residents that could not be isolated from vulnerable population.
The Army Corps. of Engineers also said this month that a $40 million FEMA contract to build a hospital in the Bronx was scrapped at the request of the Cuomo administration.
Earlier this week, President Trump said the Comfort would be docked at its base in Virginia, after the governor informed him the ship was no longer needed. "They didn’t need it, that’s a good thing," Trump said. "That’s such a good thing. I think that shows that New York’s making progress."
According to the FEMA spokesperson, the details of patient transfers and logistics are still being worked out.
A spokesperson for the Governor's Office did not respond to inquiries.
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COVID-19
javits center
usns comfort
coronavirus
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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