Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Response in the US

California

As part of its domestic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, International Medical Corps has deployed emergency medical field units and equipment to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH), Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, to help them better manage triage and patient flow during surges in demand caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. We also have deployed field units and equipment to four acute-care hospitals in Los Angeles operated by Avanti Hospitals (East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital, Community Hospital of Huntington Park, Coast Plaza Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Gardena) and to two hospitals in the south Central Valley (Adventist Health Bakersfield and Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley). In addition, we have been providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and training to scores of long-term care facilities across the state. Finally, we are supporting vaccination efforts at MLKCH and at Kedren Community Health Center, both of which serve vulnerable populations in Central and South Los Angeles.

Illinois

In the Chicago area, International Medical Corps has deployed emergency medical field units, PPE and other medical supplies, and volunteer clinicians to Vista Medical Center East, in Waukegan, and to UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial, in Harvey. Vista will use the field units to expand triage capabilities, improve patient flow and keep COVID-19 patients separated from other patients, while Ingalls will use the units to further support expanded COVID-19 community testing. At both facilities, volunteers will help alleviate potential workforce strain due to increased demands and patient volumes.

Michigan

In Detroit, International Medical Corps has deployed emergency medical field units, PPE and other medical supplies to Henry Ford Hospital, which has served metro Detroit for more than a century, and Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, which has served western Oakland County for more than a decade. The hospitals, both part of the Henry Ford Health System, will use the field units and supplies to improve care for overflow patients who are awaiting discharge. In addition, we have deployed volunteer clinical staff to two hospitals in the Detroit Medical Center health system.

New York

International Medical Corps has deployed emergency medical field units, PPE and volunteer clinicians to Flushing Hospital Medical Center and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The hospitals, both part of the MediSys Health Network, are not-for-profit teaching hospitals that each have served the community of Queens for more than a century. Both now find themselves in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will use the field units to expand the capacity of their emergency departments and improve patient management and flow. We also have deployed volunteer clinical staff at Maimonides Medical Center and at the NYC Health+Hospitals System.

An International Medical Corps staff member speaks with doctors in a newly deployed emergency medical field unit at Flushing Hospital Medical Center.

Puerto Rico

International Medical Corps has deployed emergency medical field units at four hospitals in Puerto Rico: Hospital Damas in Ponce, which serves the southern part of the island—still recovering from a series of strong earthquakes in January; Dr. Ramón Ruiz Arnau University Hospital (HURRA) in Bayamón, which serves the island’s northern and central areas; Hospital San Cristobal, a public hospital located in Juana Díaz that serves the southeast and south-central regions of Puerto Rico; and Centro Médico, which is located in San Juan and is part of a large medical campus that serves as one of the primary trauma receiving facilities for Puerto Rico and the broader Caribbean.

International Medical Corps staff build an emergency medical field unit at Hospital Damas in Ponce, Puerto Rico.