Upstate Medical University Welcomes Two U.S. Air Force Small Medical Teams To Assist With Patient Care And Throughput

Press release from Upstate Medical University:

February 10, 2022

At the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, approximately 40 medical personnel from the United States Air Force will be assisting with patient care and patient throughput at Upstate University Hospital through March 12.

The team includes six physicians, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant, 22 registered nurses, four respiratory therapists and four medics. Two management/administrative personnel are also on site to assist the team.

Most of the group’s work will be dedicated to supporting medical/surgical units.

“We’re grateful this team is assisting us at this time,” said Robert Corona, DO, MBA, chief executive officer of Upstate University Hospital. “The pandemic, staff shortage, cancelation of elective surgeries has impacted our operations in many ways, including not being able to treat patients who seek our care due to a shortage of beds. This monthlong deployment of these medical professionals to our campus will provide us with a remedy to these issues and enable us to care for more patients.”

The team is expected to assist the hospital with opening a nursing unit that was closed due to staffing constraints, as well as expanding beds in other care areas where beds were reduced. This expanded space will make room for patients needing hospitalization, who would otherwise be waiting in the emergency department for an open bed.

The USAF Small Medical Teams' efforts will ease the strain on Upstate’s emergency departments who will be able to care for patients with emergent needs rather than having to dedicate the limited staffing resources to care for patients waiting for an open bed.

About 220 military medical personnel have been deployed throughout the country in the last week to assist with hospitals overwhelmed with Covid patients or dealing with significant staff shortages. States receiving these medical teams include California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Michigan and Oklahoma.

In New York, military medical teams are already assisting hospitals in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Buffalo, and a team is expected to arrive in Rochester shortly.

This press release was produced by Upstate Medical University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.