Lujan Grisham seeks deployment of 248-bed Army hospital to New Mexico

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday formally requested the U.S. Defense Department deploy a staffed 248-bed U.S. Army combat support hospital to Albuquerque as a proactive measure intended to enhance the state’s treatment capacity.

“This CSH is urgently needed to support the State of New Mexico’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which threatens to overwhelm our existing medical treatment facilities and resources,” Lujan Grisham wrote Wednesday in a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Read more:New Mexico clamps down on protective medical gear amid coronavirus outbreak

The governor made the request under a federal law that authorizes the U.S. government to provide states with emergency medical assistance, Lujan Grisham's office stated.

Lujan Grisham asked that the hospital be placed under the operational control of Brigadier General Michele K. LaMontagne of the New Mexico National Guard.

The governor’s request that the hospital be deployed to Albuquerque is part of a comprehensive state response to the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, and came on the day state public health officials confirmed its 136th case. The state still has only one known death from COVID-19, an Eddy County man in his 70s. 

That response has included the statewide closure of all public schools, as well as assistance for unemployed workers and distressed businesses.

Lujan Grisham enacted a stay-at-home order that went into effect Tuesday which shuttered all non-essential businesses and restricted public gatherings to five people or less through at least April 10.

Damien Willis is a Lead Reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-541-5443, dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.