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Fort Campbell Soldiers Return From Medical Mission To New York

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Spc. Andrew Jocourtesy DVIDS
On Monday, soldiers stationed at Fort Campbell returned after six weeks helping with the response to COVID-19 in New York City.
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More than 200 soldiers from Fort Campbell have returned from a deployment to New York City.

They spent more than a month at the Javits New York Medical Station caring for more than a thousand COVID-19 patients in the convention center.

The plan had been use the convention center as an overflow for local hospitals to send non-COVID patients, but it turned out that there weren’t that many non-COVID patients to treat. So the field hospital began treating patients with COVID-19.

“The workload was abundant, the hours were often long, and the challenges were many, but through it all our soldiers maintained their professionalism and drive to provide the absolute best care possible,” said Col. Brandon Pretlow, commander of the 531st Hospital Center.

Some members of the 531st stayed behind in New York providing support for other military medical units.

The returning service members will now undergo a precautionary quarantine. An official “welcome home” ceremony is being planned for the near future.

Blake Farmer, Host, This Is Nashville

Blake Farmer is the host of “This Is Nashville,” the flagship weekday show of Nashville Public Radio. Previously, Blake spent 16 years at WPLN News, serving as host, editor and news director. Before a two-year radio hiatus with a Nashville-based healthcare company, Blake was one of the country’s most prolific healthcare audio journalists. He produced stories for both local and national programs, extending the reach of his reporting through a partnership with KFF Health News. Outside of work, Blake can be found running or biking on roads that other Nashvillians consider too busy for such activities. So far, he has always made it home to his wife of 20 years and two children.

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