Javits Center Hospital Closes, Feds Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The 2,500-bed federal hospital at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan, which was quickly mobilized in an effort to greatly expand New York's hospital capacity, was set to close Friday after transferring its last patients back to local hospitals, federal officials said.

The Javits Center facility had treated about 1,100 patients, less than half of the hospital's total capacity, in one month, a spokesman from the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed with Patch.

"Planning is ongoing for the drawdown of federal resources that are no longer needed due to the flattening of the curve. The remaining patients at the Jacob Javits Center are expected to be discharged or transferred today," the FEMA spokesman said in a statement Friday.

The final number of patients treated at the Javits Center will be 1,094, a Department of Defense spokesman told Patch earlier this week. As of Tuesday, the facility was currently treating about 70 coronavirus-positive patients, and was actively transferring them to local hospitals, the spokesman said.

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The Javits Center hospital was established to take overflow patients from local hospitals, but its mission was eventually modified to treat coronavirus-positive patients at the request of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo said Monday that he spoke with President Donald Trump that morning about keeping the makeshift hospital facilities operating in New York in case the state sees a "second wave" of coronavirus infections.

"I spoke to the President about leaving them in place until we get through the flu season. God forbid we need extra capacity again. I don't want to have built - ask the federal government to build capacity, then take it down and then wind up in another problem area," Cuomo said Monday.

Temporary hospital facilities that opened as New York City was hit hard by exponential growth in coronavirus infections in March are beginning to pull out of the city. The USNS Comfort hospital ship departed New York harbor on Thursday and the 68-bed field hospital established in Central Park is also expected to pack up in May.

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