US Navy ship brings free medical care to Jamaica as part of regional goodwill mission

KINGSTON, Jamaica _ (AP)  U.S. Navy hospital ship is bringing state-of-the-art medical care to Jamaica as part of this year’s goodwill mission in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Staff on the USNS Comfort set up two outreach sites in the capital of Kingston where they started providing free medical and dental care to Jamaicans on Wednesday.

Some patients will also be seen on board the converted oil tanker with operating rooms, a blood bank, and an intensive care unit.

The hospital ship will anchor in southern Jamaica until May 14.

Before arriving in Jamaica, Comfort personnel provided free services in Guatemala and Belize. It is scheduled to visit several other countries including Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Honduras.

Officials expect that some 130,000 patients will be seen across the region this year.

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