From as early as 2 am yesterday, people began lining up outside the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port-of-Spain for free medical services provided by the US Navy hospital ship, USNS Comfort. By the time screening began just after 8 am, hundreds were waiting for treatment in areas including adult and paediatric medicine, dental care, optometry, physical therapy, women’s health, and dermatology. But by midday, several of those services were closed off.
Inside the venue, officer-in-charge, Lt Commander Thomas Rossiter, said the team catered for about 400–600 patients per day and that by 11 am, roughly 150 had already been seen. “I was told that we had patients as early as 4 am starting to show up. The turnout looks very good. This is our sixth stop and we’ve had very good turnout here,” Rossiter said. The USNS Comfort’s mission has so far visited Grenada, Panama, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica. Rossiter said the health issues presented in T&T were similar to those in other countries, and his team usually travels with surplus medication to donate to the host nation.
