Mission to Latin America and CaribbeanTopics on this page: USNS Comfort 2007 Mission to Latin America and Caribbean  | A child receives dental care from LTJG Amy Dayhoff, dental hygienist, at Valley of Peace, Belize. |
On June 15, the USNS Comfort set sail on its 120-day humanitarian mission to 12 Latin American and Caribbean ports. A cadre of U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps professionals—from the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—are on board to supporting Comfort's mission to offer medical care. The PHS health professionals include physicians, dentists, and other uniformed health professionals. It is expected that 85,000 patients will be treated, and up to 1,500 surgeries will be performed as the ship docks in Belize, Guatemala, and Panama in the months of June and July. The team of 18 PHS professionals will be relieved by another group from PHS in mid-July. The PHS group is under the command of CAPT Craig Shepherd, the PHS Chief Environmental Health Officer. Volunteers from U.S. non-governmental organizations such as Project Hope and Operation Smile will also be on board. A total of 69 health professionals will serve aboard the Comfort over the course of the mission. President Bush ordered the deployment of the naval ship as part of the initiative on “Advancing the Cause of Social Justice in the Western Hemisphere” to aid the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. top of the page About the USNS Comfort  | USNS Comfort |
The United States Naval Service Comfort is a floating medical treatment facility that is provided as a public service by the Commanding Officer. The primary mission of the Comfort is to provide a mobile, flexible, and rapidly responsive floating medical facility for acute medical and surgical care in support of amphibious task forces, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force elements. As a secondary mission, the Comfort is capable of providing a full hospital service for use by other government agencies involved in the support and relief of humanitarian operations worldwide. The Comfort is a converted San Clemente class tanker built in 1976. She was converted to a hospital ship and delivered to the Navy on December 1, 1987 and assigned to the Military Sealift Command to operate. Photos from the USNS Comfort Mission As the USNS Comfort and its crew of Commissioned Corps professionals offer medical care, some photos will be posted in the USNS Comfort Photo Gallery. Related Links top of the page
Last revised: January 16, 2008 | 
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