{"id":33155,"date":"2019-06-14T17:46:45","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T17:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/14\/why-comfort-sailed-south-again\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:33:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:33:34","slug":"why-comfort-sailed-south-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/06\/14\/why-comfort-sailed-south-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Comfort sailed south again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NORFOLK \u2014 With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/04\/14\/trump-moves-to-isolate-maduro-regime\/\" target=_blank>ongoing unrest in Venezuela<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/navydata\/fact_display.asp?cid=4625&#038;tid=200&#038;ct=4\" target=_blank>hospital ship Comfort<\/a> left Naval Station Norfolk Friday morning on a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/08\/us-navy-hospital-ship-comfort-to-help-with-venezuelan-refugees\/\" target=_blank> five-month<\/a> cruise to provide medical relief to parts of the Caribbean and South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stops are planned for Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis deployment responds directly to the man-made crisis (Nicol\u00e1s) Maduro\u2019s regime has created,\u201d said Adm. Craig Faller, the Miami-based leader of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.southcom.mil\/\" target=_blank>U.S. Southern Command<\/a>, in a statement emailed to Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are committed to finding ways to support the Venezuelan people and our regional partners who share the goal of seeing a legitimate, democratic government reinstated in Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/08\/us-navy-hospital-ship-comfort-to-help-with-venezuelan-refugees\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4986537.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US Navy hospital ship Comfort to help with Venezuelan refugees<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A U.S. Navy hospital ship will embark on another humanitarian mission to help countries cope with an influx of Venezuelans fleeing a deep economic and political crisis, the Trump administration announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 13-member multinational medical team from Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Costa Rica will augment the health professionals from the Navy and other federal agencies on board the hospital ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are deploying with 197 credentialed medical professionals that are joint forces. That\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/usphs.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Public Health<\/a>, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Army providers aboard, combined with my full staff of over 800 people,\u201d said Capt. Kevin Buckley, the commanding officer of the <a href=\"https:\/\/health.mil\/News\/Articles\/2018\/12\/20\/Hospital-ship-USNS-Comfort-returns-home-after-completing-mission\" target=\"_blank\">Comfort Medical Treatment Facility<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s potentially approximately 100 medical providers coming from the civilian non-government organizations partners as well as other host nations that may be joining us during the mission stops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once in port in Colombia, the Comfort\u2019s crew will work with \u201chost nation medical professionals\u201d who are \u201cabsorbing thousands of Venezuelan migrants and refugees\u201d who are \u201cdesperately fleeing their homeland for hope of a better way of life,&#8221; Faller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like sister hospital ship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/navydata\/fact_display.asp?cid=4625&#038;tid=200&#038;ct=4\" target=_blank>Mercy<\/a>, the 32-year-old Comfort was built by converting a commercial tanker into one of the largest floating trauma facilities in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers last year nixed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/03\/16\/lawmakers-criticize-navys-plan-to-retire-one-of-two-hospital-ships\/\" target=_blank>the Navy\u2019s plans<\/a> to retire one of the two 894-foot-long, 69,360-ton vessels, instead appropriating $6.4 million to extend the life of San Diego-based Mercy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both hospital ships are maintained and operated by the Military Sealift Command\u2019s civilian mariners. Some stay with the ship all the time, others augment the crew when the ship deploys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ship\u2019s military-run medical facilities are commanded by Buckley, a 29-year medical officer with experience in both expeditionary warfare and humanitarian missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Comfort can become fully operational in five days. It boasts 1,000 beds and a supply of 5,000 units of blood, plus four X-ray machines and a CAT scan unit; a dental clinic; an optometry and lens lab; physical therapy center; pharmacy; <a href=\"https:\/\/vascular.org\/patient-resources\/vascular-tests\/angiogram\" target=_blank>angiography<\/a> suite; and two oxygen-producing plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But during this cruise Buckley expects most of the medical work will be conducted on shore at sites set up by the ship\u2019s crew, providing greater access to those who need care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4844\" height=\"2422\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JMB5509.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-64358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JMB5509.jpg.jpg 4844w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JMB5509.jpg.jpg?resize=300,150 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JMB5509.jpg.jpg?resize=768,384 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JMB5509.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,512 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JMB5509.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,768 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JMB5509.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1024 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4844px) 100vw, 4844px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The USNS Comfort heads into the Chesapeake Bay on the way to the Atlantic after deploying from Naval Station, Norfolk on a five-month Latin American cruise to assist Venezuelan migrants. (Mark D. Faram\/staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ship has deployed seven times to the Latin American region since 2007, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/12\/18\/navy-hospital-ship-comfort-returns-after-treating-venezuelan-migrants\/\" target=\"_blank\">twice in the past year. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During last fall\u2019s Latin America deployment, the Comfort treated more than 26,000 patients and conducted about 600 surgeries, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2017, the Comfort was ordered to Puerto Rico in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The medical team treated 1,899 patients, performed 191 surgeries and delivered to island residents 76,000 liters of oxygen and 10 tons of food and water <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stops are planned for Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago, but the focus remains on aiding Venezuela refugees and migrants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,88,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3087],"class_list":["post-33155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LMHGINGQYNFYDGEZKQQZXM5JHI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/06\/14\/why-comfort-sailed-south-again\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Comfort sailed south again - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stops are planned for Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago, but the focus remains on aiding Venezuela refugees and migrants.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Comfort sailed south again\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stops are planned for Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago, but the focus remains on aiding Venezuela refugees and migrants.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/06\/14\/why-comfort-sailed-south-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-14T17:46:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T19:33:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. 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