Emergency Field Hospital Erected in New York's Central Park

An emergency field hospital was erected in Manhattan’s Central Park on Sunday, March 29, in anticipation of the growing number of coronavirus cases in New York City.

This video shows crews unloading supplies and setting up tents for the field hospital in Central Park. The hospital was brought in by Samaritan’s Purse, a nonprofit evangelical Christian organization that provides “spiritual and physical aid” to victims of war, disease, natural disasters, and other calamities, according to the group’s website.

The North Carolina–based organization said the field hospital was set up in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, New York officials, and local hospital authorities. The hospital will hold 68 beds and was designed as a respiratory care unit in conjunction with Mount Sinai Health System.

City officials told local media the hospital would begin receiving patients on Tuesday.

The Jacob K Javits Convention Center in Manhattan has also been transformed into a 1,000-bed temporary hospital. Additional hospital locations at SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Old Westbury, and the Westchester Convention Center were announced as part of New York Gov Andrew Cuomo’s plan to supply beds and health care for coronavirus patients statewide.

There were at least 59,513 coronavirus cases in New York, with 33,768 concentrated in New York City, the New York State Health Department reported as of Sunday afternoon. Credit: Samaritan’s Purse via Storyful