Hospital ship, NHP staff to deploy

The Navy's East Coast-based hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) will be leaving its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on Oct. 11 for an 11-week deployment designed to ease the strain on Central and South American medical workers caused by millions of Venezuelans fleeing their country under the reign of President Nicolas Maduro. Comfort will travel between ports in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Honduras, according to an announcement from the U.S. Southern Command. The deployment comes on the heels of an August visit to South America by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who announced Comfort's impending move as a humanitarian mission. The ship’s entire crew will include more than 200 American and partner-nation military doctors, nurses, and technicians and about 60 volunteers from non-governmental organizations. The medical team expects to treat some 750 patients a day at shore-based sites, and as many as 20 surgeries per day aboard ship. (Source: Virginian-Pilot 10/01/18) Gulf Coast Note: The Naval Hospital Pensacola, Fla., command will have 10 personnel deploying with USNS Comfort. The personnel include a pediatrician, family medicine provider, dentist, master-at-arms, electronics technician, information technician, culinary specialists, and a personnel specialist, according to NHP’s public affairs office.