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Last Friday, April 3, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced an Executive Order that the National Guard would take ventilators and protective equipment from hospitals Upstate for use downstate. The order was met with bipartisan opposition from all levels of government. Congressman Tom Reed (R NY-23) said Tuesday that the Governor "is responding to the strong opposition as the order has not yet been carried out and an announcement was made that the state has procured an additional 1,140 ventilators over the weekend".

"I'm not going to be in a position where people are dying and we have several hundred ventilators in our own state, somewhere else," Cuomo said last Friday. "I apologize for the hardship to those institutions — ultimately there is no hardship, if you don't get the ventilator back, I give you my personal word I will pay you for the ventilator — but I'm not going to let people die because we didn't redeploy these ventilators."

After Friday's announcement Cuomo's office said he was asking upstate hospitals to loan 20% of ventilators not currently being used to hospitals downstate.

"In addressing the coronavirus pandemic, it is essential that we all work together. While the pandemic is primarily in downstate New York now - it is projected to peak and reduce in downstate and the increase in upstate, " said Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor to the Governor. It is essential that we all help each other and the Governor is asking upstate hospitals to loan 20 percent of their unused ventilators to struggling downstate hospitals."

But upstate legislators immediately objected, claiming that Cuomo was valuing downstate lives over upstate patients.

"This is a step too far," said NYS Senator Pam Helming (R NY-54). Taking ventilators and PPE (face shields) from upstate hospitals that are already short will not accomplish that goal. Every hospital must have the tools they need to serve their own patients. To go into hospitals and private businesses and seize medical equipment puts everyone at risk and sets an incredibly dangerous precedent. The State of New York needs to work with all our hospitals to get the resources to the right places, while ensuring they have what they need to take care of their own patients. Sending in the National Guard to collect ventilators from upstate hospitals that are already short, and bring them downstate is just wrong on every level. We need to do everything we can to save the lives of ALL people, across the State of New York."

"We have been watching the situation in New York City and we have an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in other parts of New York. Taking our ventilators by force leaves our people without protection and our hospitals unable to save lives today or respond to a coming surge. We stand together opposing the Governor's very dangerous and reckless action. He is leaving our communities in a terrible position which will cost lives." said US Reps. Reed, Stefanik; State Senators Ortt, Borrello, Jacobs, Helming, Funke, Akshar, O'mara and State Assemblymen Palmesano, Friend, Goodell, Kolb And Assemblywoman Byrnes in a joint statement last Friday.

Of the 1,140 ventiltors sent from China and Oregon, 1,000 of the ventiltors were sent to New York from China, with 140 of the breathing machines coming from Oregon. Cuomo said Saturday that 1,000 ventilators have been donated to New York by the Joseph and Clara Tsai Foundation. He added that the Joseph and Clara Tsai Foundation and the Jack Ma Foundation have also donated one million surgical masks, one million KN95 masks and more than 100,000 pairs of goggles to the state. Cuomo said the Chinese government and Ambassador Huang Ping, Chinese Consul General, facilitated the donations.

Reed said several Republican and Democrat lawmakers from federal, state and local levels worked together to publicly express concerns about moving upstate ventilators to downstate hospitals, leaving Upstate New York without defense as the virus continues to spread.

"We are glad to see the Governor is backtracking from his position to forcibly take necessary medical equipment from Upstate hospitals, which would have been a reckless move." Reed said, "It is important we all work together to make sure our communities are safe and healthy and our healthcare providers have what they need to do their job, both downstate and upstate. Working together collaboratively is the approach we must take here. We stand ready to assist in any way we can to ensure the needs of our constituents are protected while the needs of our neighbors are met. I ask the Governor to communicate with us, as he has promised to do, in the interest of protecting and caring for all New Yorkers. I have provided my personal cell phone number to the Governor and stand ready to help."

On Sunday Cuomo announced the federal government is deploying approximately 1,000 personnel to New York State, including doctors, nurses, respiratory technicians and therapists, to help the state's overwhelmed hospital systems. The first 325 were deployed to New York City the same day. Cuomo said Tuesday that an anticipated delivery of ventilators promised by President Trump will probably arrive too late to meet current needs.

"We have been scrambling with ventilators. We move them all over the state like pieces on a chess board literally whatever hospital has the greatest inflow that night we move ventilators around the state," he said. "We have also used other machines that have a ventilating capacity, something called the BiPAP machine. There's something called a splitting capacity where you can take one ventilator and literally run two sets of tubes to treat two patients. I understand there's going to be a delivery of ventilators in June or whatever and that's going to be past our problem, hopefully. The apex in New York and my guess is most other places but God forbid there's a second wave, the ventilators will be here. But they're not going to make a difference in the next two weeks obviously. And right now we are okay."

On Monday Cuomo said President Trump granted his request to allow COVID-19 patients to be treated on a US Navy hospital ship in New York Harbor.

"I spoke with the President this morning and asked if the USNS Comfort, the United States Navy Ship the Comfort, which is an additional 1,000 beds, could also take COVID patients," Cuomo said. "The original plan was they would do non-COVID patients from the hospital system. As it turns out, we don't have many non-COVID symptoms because when you close everything down, the silver lining was traffic accidents, crime went down. So, we really need help with the COVID patients. The President spoke to the Department of Defense and granted that request to use the Navy Ship Comfort for COVID patients. So, that's an additional 1,000 beds with federal personnel managing that ship. So, that's a welcome relief and the President granted the request. ... Between the 2,500 at the Javits Center and the 1,000 beds of the Comfort, that should be a major, major relief system for already overtaxed hospital system."

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