Makeshift Hospital Being Built In New York's Central Park To Combat Coronavirus Pandemic

Samaritan's Purse is building a temporary hospital in New York's Central Park to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

What Happened

The evangelical Christian charitable organization announced Sunday that the hospital located in the East Meadow in the park would have 68-bed respiratory care units for patients who fall severely ill after catching the virus.

Samaritan's Purse said that medical staff, including doctors and nurses, "will soon be on the ground," and the facility is expected to start functioning Tuesday.

The makeshift hospital has been launched in partnership with Mount Sinai Health System and will be taking patients from its hospitals, with priority being given to Brooklyn and Queens branches.

"People are dying from the coronavirus, hospitals are out of beds, and the medical staff are overwhelmed," Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham said.

"We are deploying our Emergency Field Hospital to New York to help carry this burden."

Why It Matters

New York accounts for nearly half of the United States' 143,025 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, with the number of deaths crossing 1,000.

The state's healthcare system is under significant strain, and Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday called on President Donald Trump to approve the construction of hospital fields to add a bed-capacity of 4,000, throughout the state.

"I want to have one in every borough," Cuomo said at a press conference, as reported by Politico, adding that he wants to ensure that "everyone equally is being helped and is being protected."