USNS Comfort completes mission

PUNTARENAS, Costa Rica - The military hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) held its closing ceremony at Gimnasio el Coloso de Barranca on July 27 symbolizing the completion of its third medical mission to Central and South America, and the Caribbean. During Comfort’s five-day mission in Costa Rica, some 320 medical professionals from the Air Force, Army, and Navy, alongside six partner- nations – Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru - provided care for more than 5,500 patients at two separate shore-based medical sites and performed more than 130 surgeries aboard the ship. This marks the Comfort’s seventh deployment to the region since 2007. The ship is returning to its homeport in Norfolk, Va., and included some staff from Naval Hospital Pensacola, Fla. (Source: USNS Comfort 07/31/19)