International Christian Relief Organization Responds at Epicenter in U.S. and ItalyNEW YORK — Samaritan’s Purse is opening an Emergency Field Hospital in Central Park adjacent to The Mount Sinai Hospital, the main facility of the Mount Sinai Health System to provide additional specialized care for victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. With nearly half of all U.S. cases occurring in New York City, medical centers are overrun and in desperate need of added capacity.

Samaritan’s Purse worked closely with Mount Sinai Health System, city, and state officials as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deploy a 68-bed Emergency Field Hospital to help meet the needs of local hospitals that are facing an unprecedented wave of sick patients.

“Samaritan’s Purse has been asked to help in New York as the state and their medical infrastructure have been overwhelmed by the coronavirus,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “We are grateful to be working alongside Mount Sinai Health System to help meet this critical need. In a time of crisis, we all have to come together to help people who are suffering. Samaritan’s Purse is responding in Jesus’ Name—please pray for everyone affected by this deadly virus.”

The Central Park Emergency Field Hospital is opening less than two weeks after an identical unit was established in Italy. The New York City location will be staffed by 76 disaster response specialists, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, lab technicians, and other critical support personnel.

“In order to meet the needs of the coming surge, we must work as a united front in order save as many lives as possible. We are grateful for the collaboration with Samaritan’s Purse who have come to the aid of the people of Italy and now New York. Through this partnership, we are leveraging our collective resources to care for our patients and community.” said Margaret Pastuszko, executive vice president, chief operating officer, and chief strategy officer for Mount Sinai Health System.

“As part of its broader COVID-19 response, we have activated surge planning to expand our capacity to care for patients with COVID-19. As a system, we’re changing our policies as needed and in real-time, freeing up physical space to expand capacity to serve COVID-19-positive patients, and freeing up staff and resources to manage this crisis however we can. We are doing everything we can do to mitigate this crisis, and taking extraordinary steps to protect and serve our communities, including erecting triage tents outside of emergency departments throughout our eight-hospital system to expand services in addition to the mobile tent hospital made possible by our partners at Samaritan’s Purse. These measures are critical, along with the collaboration of our city and state governmental partners and with Samaritan’s Purse, will ensure we get through this pandemic together,” said Dr. Jeremy Boal, executive vice president and chief clinical officer for Mount Sinai Health System.

“I am very proud of the life-saving work we have done thus far. We are working diligently, around the clock, to prepare for the increase in patients. The partnership with Samaritan’s Purse will allow us to expand inpatient and critical-care capacity to meet this growing need. We thank them and our governmental partners for joining us in this fight to stop this pandemic,” said Dr. Brendan Carr, chair of emergency medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Health System.

Samaritan’s Purse welcomes the opportunity to work with the Mount Sinai Health System, which will transfer patients within its system to the field hospital. The 68-bed unit, was delivered to New York by a convoy of trucks from the Samaritan’s Purse warehouse in North Carolina.

Media Opportunities

• Interview Edward Graham, assistant to the vice president of programs and government relations
• Interview Dr. Elliott Tenpenny, team lead of the COVID-19 response, on the ground in New York
• Interview Dr. Brendan Carr, chair of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Health System, on the ground in New York
• Interview Brock Kreitzburg, managing the response from the organization’s international headquarters
• Interview medical personnel working at the Emergency Field Hospital
• Broadcast Quality Broll and High-res photos of the U.S. response available here
• Broadcast Quality Broll and High-res photos of the Italy response available here

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In recent years, similar field hospitals have been deployed to the Bahamas, Mozambique, Ecuador, and Iraq to help victims of disasters and wars, but this is the first time two hospitals have been deployed simultaneously.

Based in Boone, North Carolina, Samaritan’s Purse works in more than 100 countries and responds to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations—especially in locations where few others are working. Samaritan’s Purse specializes in helping victims of disaster, poverty, famine, and war. For more information, visit SamaritansPurse.org.

Mount Sinai Health System is New York City’s largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality care—from prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island.

CONTACT: Samaritan’s Purse Media Relations, news@samaritan.org

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