NEWS
Hospital Ship USNS Comfort Begins Humanitarian Aid Mission
DORAL, Fla. — The USNS Comfort will depart Norfolk, Va., Friday on its first-ever, large-scale humanitarian assistance deployment to Central America, South America and the Caribbean, where it will provide medical care to an estimated 85,000 patients from communities with limited health care access.
On March 5, President Bush announced that the USNS Comfort would deploy to the U.S. Southern Command’s area of focus to provide humanitarian aid alongside health care providers from the region and non-governmental organizations.
“Planning for this mission has incorporated various non-government organizations and government agencies, such as Operation Smile, Project Hope, the Atlanta Rotary Club, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Health and Human Services. This is truly a joint military/civilian operation,” said Capt. Bob Kapcio, Comfort’s mission commander.
Scheduled to remain in the region through September, the Comfort will visit Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.
Comfort’s medical treatment facility includes a staff of approximately 500 medical personnel whose specialties include general surgery, orthopedics, plastics, pediatric surgery, oral surgery, ENT and OBGYN. In addition to basic care, the crew expects to perform approximately 1,500 surgeries during the deployment. The medical team is trained and equipped to provide health care services, ranging from basic tooth extractions and wellness education to surgical repair of cleft lips and tumor removals.
“This deployment provides an opportunity for us to work together with countries in the region to make a lasting contribution across our hemisphere,” said Adm. Jim Stavridis, commander, U.S. SOUTHCOM. “Comfort’s mission will reach far beyond the patients we will see each day. We will undoubtedly touch the lives of many families whose hardships will be lessened while strengthening our partnerships with the countries we visit.”
The SOUTHCOM Web site, http://www.southcom.mil, will post updates of the USNS Comfort deployment. Additional information is on the Comfort site: http://www.comfort.navy.mil. Also, NAVSO will post details of the ship’s mission at http://www.cusns.navy.mil.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Points of Contact:
U.S Southern Command, Public Affairs Office USNS Comfort, Public Affairs Office Mr. Jose Ruiz 305-437-1205, 305-437-1213, Fax: 305-437-1241 Lt. Susan Henson, 757-444-4199, x. 314
e-mail: jose.ruiz@hq.southcom.mil Lt. John Fage, 757-641-4389
susan.henson@navy.mil or john.fage@navy.mil
June 12, 2007