Javits Center Transfers Patients Ahead Of Expected Closure

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The federal hospital facility established at Midtown Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is currently transferring patients back to local hospitals as the facility prepares to close, a Department of Defense spokesperson told Patch.

The 2,500-bed hospital at the Javits Center hospital could be closed as soon as May 1, but the final call on the "completion" of its mission in New York City will be made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or federal Department of Health and Human Services, a DOD spokesman said.

To date, the medical facility at the Javits Center has treated 1,094 patients, a DOD spokesman said. The facility is currently treated 72 coronavirus-positive patients, 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.

The governor spoke specifically about the hospital at the Javits Center, calling it a "great facility," but acknowledging that maintaining the hospital would prevent the Manhattan convention center from reopening.

"You can't reopen the convention center, obviously, when it has the hospital beds in it," Cuomo said.

Federal officials are also planning to relocate the USNS Comfort hospital ship from New York City, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said during a press conference last week. After leaving New York, the Comfort will return to Norfolk, Virginia for resupply and go through its regular post-deployment procedures. The Pentagon will consult with FEMA to identify a future coastal city for deployment. In total, the 1,000-bed hospital ship treated fewer than 200 patients during its time in New York, federal officials said.

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