Biden-Harris Administration Deploys Medical Team to North Carolina to Support Local COVID-19 Response

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to support communities across the country in the fight against COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is deploying a team of 15 medical providers and support staff from the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) to provide temporary medical surge support at Atrium Health Pineville in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The NDMS personnel include physicians, advanced healthcare professionals, nurses, paramedics, and logistics and administrative personnel who serve as intermittent federal personnel for up to 14 days per deployment. The state of North Carolina requested the support from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to aid in efforts to respond to a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the area and to provide temporary relief to local medical personnel.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain our country’s health care system and medical personnel,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. “These NDMS teams serve as a lifeline to hospitals by providing temporary relief to staff, adding bed capacity, decreasing wait times, and improving outcomes for COVID-19 patients. We are committed to helping states respond to the Omicron outbreak and keep Americans safe.”

“We’re extremely grateful for the support of our state and federal governments in sharing this team of medical professionals from HHS with our Atrium Health Pineville emergency department,” said Dr. James Hunter, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Atrium Health. “Our dedicated health care heroes at Atrium Health have worked very hard throughout the pandemic and, like many others across the country, are feeling the effects of this latest surge. Knowing their work is being recognized and supplemented by this team to lend a hand is very meaningful for them.”

Since the start of the pandemic, HHS’ ASPR has conducted more than 1,750 support missions and deployed more than 10,000 medical, logistical, and command and control personnel from NDMS to help 36 states, territories, and jurisdictions respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, NDMS teams are also providing medical surge support in Arizona and Rhode Island.

ASPR leads the nation’s medical and public health preparedness for, response to, and recovery from disasters and public health emergencies. To learn more about HHS’ response to COVID-19, please visit https://aspr.hhs.gov/COVI​D-19/. For more information about ASPR and NDMS, visit
https://aspr.hhs​.gov/NDMS/.