A Brooklyn nursing home where 55 elderly people have died from COVID-19 begged New York health officials to move its sick residents to the...
A Brooklyn nursing home where 55 elderly people have died from COVID-19 begged New York health officials to move its sick residents to the Navy hospital ship the USNS Comfort weeks ago - but was denied.
CEO of the Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn, Donny Tuchman, pleaded with New York Health Department officials in an email on April 9, asking if there was 'a way for us to send our suspected covid patients' to either the Comfort or the hospital built inside the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
At the time of the email, only 134 of the 1,000 beds at the Javits Center were being used, and the Comfort had only 62 patients on board the ship that had the capacity to treat 500.
'I was told those facilities were only for hospitals' Tuchman told the New York Post. Now the 360-bed nursing home is topping the nation's list of nursing home deaths.
Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn, New York, begged to move its sick residents to the Navy hospital ship the USNS Comfort weeks ago - but was denied
The Comfort only treated 179 patients in the three weeks it was docked in New York Harbor
In Tuchman's email to state health officials, he said: 'We don't have the ability to cohort right now based on staffing and we really want to protect our other patients.'
The Comfort only treated 179 patients in the three weeks it was docked in New York Harbor.
The ship will be returned to its post in Norfolk, Virginia, after the city's demand for hospital beds did not reach levels that had been projected during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Comfort had steamed into New York Harbor to cheers and applause on March 30, and was viewed by many New Yorkers as long overdue help from the federal government.
It was intended as an overflow hospital for the city's strained health system, and officials said from the outset that it would provide 1,000 beds for non-coronavirus patients.
Its hesitation in accepting COVID-19 patients was that it would be a complex operation to disinfect the ship once the pandemic was over.
CEO of the Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn, Donny Tuchman (pictured), pleaded with New York Health Department officials in an email on April 9, asking if there was 'a way for us to send our suspected covid patients' to either the Comfort or the hospital built inside the Jacob Javits Convention Center
Cobble Hill (pictured) offers temporary care for those recovering from a hospital stay, as well as permanent care for older and chronically ill residents and has had 55 COVID-19 deaths
Tuchman alerted the Health Department of the nursing home's dire conditions in a previous email on April 8.
He said that the facility had 'over 50 symptomatic patients scattered through the building and almost no gowns.'
Tuchman told the Post he got a response within 20 minutes with an attachment on how to conserve PPE. 'There is no way for us to prevent the spread under these conditions,' he wrote. 'Is there anything more we can do to protect our patients and staff? Thank you for any help you could be.'
The health official wrote: 'Many facilities have built this guidance into their contingency plan in the event of PPE supply shortages and depletion of supplies. Thanks.'
A follow-up response from the health department added, 'Please be sure to submit your request through the local OEM daily.'
Tuchman said Friday: 'This has been a very sad and painful experience. Once the virus gets into the building it is very, very hard to control.'
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