NY Medical Schools, Retirees Told To Join Coronavirus Fight

NEW YORK CITY — Governor Andrew Cuomo is contacting medical schools and urging retired health professionals to return to the field as the state prepares for what he expects to be an unprecedented health emergency.

Cuomo wrote to medical schools asking for information on the number of students and their skill level, as well as details about faculty members, their qualifications and their specialties.

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He also asks if the school's facility is suitable to accommodate seriously ill patients and, if not, what modifications could be made to make them suitable.

"We need to be creative in finding back-up assistance and the help of qualified medical professionals to supplement our state public health system's capacity to treat seriously ill coronavirus pateints," the letter said.

It asks for the information to be provided within 36 hours of receipt.

"It is as imporatnt an issue as we have ever seen," Cuomo wrote.

Retired health professionals have been contacted and asked to sign-up as a reserve staff if needed.

Cuomo has said many times that New York City and the nation should expect a health crisis that will overwhelm existing medical infrastructure. He and Mayor Bill de Blasio have been exploring other facilities than can be converted into makeshift hospitals, including hotels.

The Navy is dispatching a floating hospital that will bring 1,000 beds to New York harbor.

As of March 17, 264 people were hospitalized in the state. The expected peak is about 45 days and the state will need between 55,000 and 110,000 hospital beds, Cuomo said.

"There is a curve," Cuomo said. "I've said that curve is going to turn into a wave and the wave is going to crash on the hospital system."

The state needs between 18,000 and 37,000 ICU beds, equipped with ventilators which are proving difficult to procure, he said.

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