Skip to main content

Military Health System

Military Medical Units Support Civilian Hospitals Strained By COVID-19 Surge

Image of Air Force Staff Sgt. Bradley Gorman, a medical technician assigned to a military medical team deployed to Yuma, Arizona performs a nasal swab at the Yuma Regional Medical Center’s COVID testing drive-thru in Yuma, Jan. 17, 2022. Air Force Staff Sgt. Bradley Gorman, a medical technician assigned to a military medical team deployed to Yuma, Arizona performs a nasal swab at the Yuma Regional Medical Center’s COVID testing drive-thru in Yuma, Jan. 17, 2022.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Air Force Capt. Jenna Mason, a nurse stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, spent about five months in Minnesota supporting a hospital staff at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

When she completed her duty there recently, she said it was hard to say goodbye to the civilian hospital staff.

"It feels kind of bittersweet, you know?" Mason said shortly after her final shift in the hospital on the morning of Jan. 23.

"Just the impact we have on the patients, it's what makes being a nurse so rewarding," said Mason. "We don't just pass out [medicine] but we hold their hands and help them through it all. We're emotional support as well."

Across the country, hundreds of service members from the active and reserve components have been supporting civilian hospitals in recent weeks as the latest surge in COVID-19 infections has strained the nation's health system.

The Defense Department announced in January that an additional 1,000 active duty service members were prepared to deploy to civilian hospitals to help take pressure off medical staffs. These 1,000 personnel joined approximately 400 other military medical personnel who previously deployed to provide assistance to civilian hospitals.

The additional military medical forces have deployed to provide support in Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio. Other recent deployments included medical teams sent to Arizona, Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Wisconsin and one team to the Navajo Nation, according to U.S. Northern Command.

"It is a team effort — the Department of Defense is one of many federal agencies providing assistance — and I am thankful and proud of our service members' role in this endeavor," said Army Lt. Gen. John R. Evans Jr., Army North commander, in a recent report on medical support deployments.

The deployment of active duty forces followed other announcements from state governments that have activated the National Guard to support civilian hospitals.

In Arizona, a team of Air Force medics has been supporting the civilian hospital staff at Yuma Regional Medical Center. "The staff has been very welcoming and really helped us integrate into their facility," said Air Force Capt. Farran Adams, a nurse assigned to the team in Yuma.

In Maryland, as many as 1,000 National Guard members deployed to support testing facilities, hospitals and nursing families. "Personally, it feels good," said Army Sgt. Shanay Clay, who supported the mission in Maryland by delivering COVID-19 test kits and masks to health care facilities and vaccination sites.

"It feels really good to know that just this one small thing could potentially save a life."

In Vermont, state officials have also requested help from the state's guard units. Army Col. Justin Davis, director of plans and operations for the Vermont National Guard, noted how the military's role in the COVID-19 response has evolved over the past two years.

"When this first started, almost two years ago, we established an alternate healthcare facility. We augmented the Strategic National Stockpile warehouse, distributed food, conducted testing sites, and helped the state with contact tracing," Davis said.

"Then vaccines became available, and we converted our testing team to a vaccination team. We also added a team … to oversee receipt, storage, and distribution of the vaccines."

In Louisiana, the National Guard has been especially busy as the deployments to support COVID-19 efforts during the past two years often coincided with other deployments in response to several devastating hurricanes and a severe winter storm, said Army Maj. Patrick O'Brien Boling of the Louisiana National Guard.

In Oregon, state officials activated about 1,200 reservists in January, sending them out to as many as 40 hospitals that were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients and in some cases short staffed due to employees falling ill.

You can find more reporting on how U.S. military medical teams are supporting the national COVID-19 response effort at U.S. Northern Command's news page or the Defense Department's Health Spotlight page.

You also may be interested in...

COVID-19 Pfizer Vaccine

Publication
8/17/2022

Pfizer mRNA vaccines are available. Pfizer includes two doses, 21 days apart.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Get to Know the COVID-19 Vaccines | Types of COVID-19 Vaccines | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

COVID-19 Moderna Vaccine

Publication
8/17/2022

Moderna and mRNA vaccines are available. Moderna includes two doses, 28 days apart.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Get to Know the COVID-19 Vaccines | Types of COVID-19 Vaccines | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Learn the Most Recent Age Requirements for COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters

Article
8/10/2022
A man fist bumps a child.

The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to get your vaccines and booster shots.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response | COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts

Telemedicine Privilege by Proxy Expands Access to MHS Care

Article
8/10/2022
Infographic featuring Lt Col Legault

MHS has Telemedicine Privilege by Proxy: A fast, efficient process that enables providers to file one application and get permission to virtually treat patients anywhere in the MHS.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Telehealth Program

Whole Health System Approach to Long COVID

Publication
8/1/2022

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration is leading an effort to equip health care providers with a Veteran-centered Whole Health System approach to caring for Veterans with Long COVID, also known as post-COVID-19 conditions.

Recommended Content:

COVID-19 Information for Military Treatment Facility Directors | Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Coronavirus

DHA-IPM 20-004: Department of Defense (DOD) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program Implementation

Policy

Establishes the Defense Health Agency’s procedures to implement instructions, assign responsibilities, and prescribe procedures for the DHA’s implementation of the DOD’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program.

Future of Nursing: Telehealth, More Innovation and Maybe Some Robots

Article
5/13/2022
Second Lt. Nina Hoskins, 81st Surgical Operations Squadron operating room nurse, briefs Col. Debra Lovette, 81st Training Wing commander, and other base leadership on robotics surgery capabilities inside the robotics surgery clinic at the Keesler Medical Center June 16, 2017. (Photo: Kemberly Groue, U.S. Air Force)

The future of nursing is here due in part to changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommended Content:

Nursing in the Military Health System | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

How One Military Nurse Persevered Through the COVID-19 Response

Article
5/5/2022
Air Force Capt. Courtney Ebeling, a medical-surgical nurse at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Family Health Clinic, Texas, was deployed to support the COVID-19 response in Afghanistan in 2021. They administered vaccinations to U.S. citizens, service members, and foreign military members as well as supported the preparation to withdraw from the country. (Photo: Courtesy of Air Force Capt. Courtney Ebeling)

Nurses across the Military Health System have played a vital role in providing routine patient care and meeting the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Nursing in the Military Health System

‘I Love the Intensity’ – One Nurse Recalls Three COVID-19 Deployments

Article
5/5/2022
In 2020, Air Force 1st Lt. Tiffany Parra, an ICU nurse at the 633rd Medical Group, on Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, was deployed to a North Dakota hospital to support a FEMA COVID-19 mission. In the photo, she trains on equipment used for critical patients in a North Dakota ICU. (Photo: Courtesy of Air Force 1st Lt. Tiffany Parra)

Nurses are unique, they follow a calling to care for others. Military nurses do that as well as serve their nation. For Nurses Week, the MHS highlights some of their own.

Recommended Content:

Nursing in the Military Health System | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Pandemic Spotlights the Vital Role of Military Lab Workers

Article
5/2/2022
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ashley Solomon, 18th Medical Support Squadron NCO in charge of microbiology, unloads blood samples from a centrifuge at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Jan. 31, 2019. (Photo: Tech. Sgt. Matthew B. Fredericks, U.S. Air Force)

MHS clinical labs produce results.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Helping Your Child to Cope with Grief and Losses Related to COVID-19

Article
4/28/2022
Shirley Lanham Elementary School students perform Taiko drumming during a Month of the Military Child celebration aboard the Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, April 6, 2022. (Photo: Petty Officer 2nd Class Ange-Olivier Clement, Naval Air Facility Atsugi)

Many military children have lost loved ones to COVID-19. How parents can help with the grief.

Recommended Content:

Month of the Military Child - Celebrating Military Kids | Children's Health | Psychological Fitness | Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

How to Help Military Children Reconnect After Two Years of the Pandemic

Article
4/25/2022
Airman 1st Class Rocio Romo, Space Launch Delta 30 public affairs specialist, and her son pose for a photo at Cocheo Park on Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, March 25, 2022. During the month of April, we celebrate Month of the Military Child to highlight the sacrifices military children make on the home front while their parents serve the United States. (Photo: Airman Kadielle Shaw, Space Launch Delta 30 Public Affairs)

How parents can help children stressed by more than two years of COVID-19.

Recommended Content:

Month of the Military Child - Celebrating Military Kids | Children's Health | Psychological Fitness | Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

COVID-19 Booster Effectiveness Remained High During Omicron Surge

Article
4/18/2022
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Mary Ashcraft, assigned to the combat ship USS Tulsa, administers a COVID-19 vaccine booster to Aviation Machinist Mate 1st Class Anthony Johnson Jan. 10, 2022, at Apra Harbor, Guam. (Photo: Mass Communication Specialist Petty Officer 1st Class Devin M. Langer, Command Destroyer Squadron 7)

Two new studies of active-duty service members show COVID-19 booster vaccines are effective, but uptake rates in the military community lagged behind the civilian population.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Coronavirus & the MHS Response | COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts

8 Tips to Help Kids Adjust to Change during the New Pandemic Phase

Article
4/15/2022
A parent comforts his child while she receives a pediatric dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Jan. 28, 2022. (Photo: Airman 1st Class Anna Nolte, 18th Wing Public Affairs)

Parents should prepare their kids for the new normal of the ongoing pandemic, recognizing that the status of the disease can change quickly as new variants of COVID-19 emerge.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Children's Health

Military Medical Officials Back FY 23 Budget Before Senate Appropriations Committee

Article
4/6/2022
Marines with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing take precautionary measures by cleaning and disinfecting their hands during field day on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., March 20, 2020, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 while continuing to perform mission-essential tasks. (Photo: Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jaime Reyes)

Military Medical officials, including Army Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Ronald J. Place, Defense Health Agency director, back FY 23 Budget before the Senate Appropriations Committee, March 29, 2022.

Recommended Content:

Public Health | Coronavirus & the MHS Response
<< < 1 2 3 4 5  ... > >> 
Showing results 16 - 30 Page 2 of 23
Refine your search
Last Updated: January 31, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery