The US Navy’s hospital ship ‘USNS Comfort’ will be deployed to Colombia this fall to provide medical care to an increasing regional humanitarian crisis, as Venezuelans try to leave the country due to a deteriorating health and political climate.
The hospital ship will assist the Colombian medical services network in providing medical care to an influx of more than 1 million Venezuelans into neighboring Colombia. A departure date has not been set yet, and medical staffing needs aboard the ship are still being determined.
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Details of the ‘Comfort’ mission are still being worked out, but it will not enter Venezuelan waters. However, the ship will still be able to operate from the southwestern Caribbean Sea, off the northern coast of Colombia, to support the country’s medical system.
Comfort’s deployment a year ago to provide humanitarian assistance to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria provides examples of the ship’s capabilities. When it arrived in Puerto Rico, the hospital ship arrived with about 750 US Navy medical staff onboard. Pediatricians, surgeons, nurse practitioners, surgical technicians and various support personnel provided care that was otherwise not available after the hurricane.
In Colombia, the medical system is functioning but is completely overwhelmed by the volume of new patients, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis informed.
