COURIER LIFE, APRIL 3-9, 2020 5
BY BEN VERDE
The cavernous Brooklyn
Cruise Terminal will
be transformed into a fi eld
hospital in the near future,
Governor Andrew Cuomo
announced on March 27,
as New York State rushes
to increase its hospital capacity
while cases of the
coronavirus skyrocket.
The cruise terminal in
Red Hook’s Clinton Wharf
will add 1,000 beds to the
state’s roster, as it attempts
to increase its hospital capacity
from roughly 53,000
to 140,000 before the outbreak’s
peak, which offi -
cials estimate could only
be three weeks away.
Along with the cruise
terminal, Cuomo announced
a number of other
fi eld hospitals in the outer
boroughs and suburbs.
“I want to have one in
every borough,” the governor
said. “I want to have
one for The Bronx, Queens,
Staten Island, Brooklyn.”
Two field hospitals
are currently in place in
Manhattan, after the arrival
of the USNS Comfort
on Monday and the installation
of 1,000 beds in the
Javits Center by the National
Guard within one
week.
The Downtown Brooklyn
Marriott and Brooklyn
Center Nursing Home in
Crown Heights are also being
considered as fi eld hospital
locations, according
to Cuomo.
Local elected offi cials,
who had been lobbying the
state for weeks to utilize
more Brooklyn locations
for fi eld hospitals, commended
the decision.
“This is an ‘all-in’ moment,
perhaps more so
than at any point in our
lifetimes,” said Borough
President Eric Adams.
“Every facet of government
must be working overtime
to provide the medical resources
and infrastructure
needed to fl atten the
curve and save lives.”
Brooklyn hospitals are
among those struggling
to meet the enormous demand.
Staff at Brookdale
Hospital, which has over
100 confi rmed COVID-19
cases as of this weekend,
described the situation as
a “war zone” in a recent
CNN report.
Meanwhile, state offi -
cials are in a race against
time to add as many additional
beds as possible.
“We are doing everything
we can,” Cuomo
said. “We are doing things
that, when we put them on
the table, people thought
they were impossible. But
we are now doing the impossible.”
U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Sara Eshleman
1,000 bed hospital
coming to Red Hook
Cruise Terminal
OUR LIVES’
coronavirus patients
danger, since masks are supposed
to be changed every
time a worker comes into contact
with a COVID-19 patient,
employees said.
“After a 12-hour shift, this
mask becomes ill-fi tting,” said
one worker. “This is really not
the appropriate setting for us
to work in.”
Coney Island Hospital
is currently treating about
210 patients who either have
COVID-19 or are highly suspected
to have it, an inside
source said, taking up a significant
portion of the hospital’s
371 beds. As of March 30, coronavirus
patients occupied 2.5
of the hospital’s four units —
and insiders suspect that the
hospital is nearing capacity.
“It’s defi nitely getting
there,” said an employee in
emergency services. “It is defi -
nitely more than we’re used to
seeing.”
To treat the infl ux of patients,
nurses who are typically
assigned to a maximum
of six people are now treating
between 10 and 15, increasing
The Red Hook Cruise Terminal will house a makeshift hospital to
deal with the infl ux of COVID-19 patients. Tom Fox
the chances that they catch
the disease or transmit it to
another patient.
The shortage of face masks
and total lack of shoe covers
and face shields also increase
employees’ risk. So far, several
have called out ill or have
come to work while suffering
symptoms.
“I’ve seen on our schedule
that people are sick and it
says, ‘COVID,'” said a medical
provider in the ER. “People
come in not feeling well, but
they have to work.”
Last week, a local pharmacy
and a Chinese-American
organization donated
around 1,500 masks to the hospital
combined. Now, staffers
are wondering where their donations
have gone.
A spokeswoman for the
hospital said that they make
use of all donated equipment,
but can only use certain types
of Personal Protective Equipment
to treat COVID-19 according
to safety protocols,
limiting what gets distributed
to workers.
And while she did not deny
that employees receive one
mask every fi ve days, she said
that the hospital is following
city and state guidelines and
claimed there’s enough protective
gear for everyone.
“Like all health systems
across the country, we have
Personal Protective Equipment
conservation efforts in
place to ensure we continue
to have the supplies our staff
need,” said Rosanne Mottola.
“Any staff member who needs
PPE can get it.”
Mottola added that the hospital
was not near capacity
and said the the hospital has
an “adequate supply” of ventilators.
Coney Island Hospital is
one of many medical centers
lacking gear, space, and employees
as COVID-19 continues
to spread. One Dyker Heights
resident said her cousin working
at Brookdale Hospital in
Brownsville gets almost no
PPE.
“They don’t have any
masks; they don’t have any
gowns. If they do have masks,
they have to use them for a
week,” said Daniella Romano.
Coney Island Hosptial staff are reusing medical masks due to supply
shortages. Photo by Paul Martinka