SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Navy is sending a 20-member medical team to New Mexico to help the San Juan Regional Medical Center cope with a staff shortage for treating large numbers of COVID-19 patients.
The military team is being deployed at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is scheduled to arrive at the Farmington hospital on Dec. 5. The U.S. Army North says New Mexico is one of seven states where military teams are currently deployed or soon will. According to a U.S. Army North spokeswoman, Dr. Nicole Wieman, the teams focus on coronavirus cases and “they are there to decompress the burden of treating COVID patients.”