The Mercy-class hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) concluded its seven-day mission in St. George’s, Grenada, June 16, as part of Continuing Promise 2025 (CP25). This visit marked the third CP mission stop to Grenada since 2007, and the second visit to Grenada by Comfort.
“Our ability to provide life-changing medical and dental care alongside our Grenadian counterparts is a testament of our commitment to the region,” said U.S. Navy Captain Ryan Kendall, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 40 and CP25 mission commander. “From medical and dental care to construction projects and community relations events, we were able to make a positive and lasting impact on the community and further strengthen our friendships and partnership.”
During the mission stop in Grenada, the CP25 team treated 1,653 patients, including 189 dental operations, 526 eye examinations, and 52 surgeries that were performed aboard Comfort. Additionally, the combined CP25 team filled 2,003 prescriptions, fabricated and distributed 541 glasses and 459 sunglasses, held a two-day geriatric care course in Carriacou, and held five days of subject matter expert exchanges to include side-by-side surgeries, preventative medicine care courses, and humanitarian aid and disaster response courses.
“Helping people out and seeing them smile and not in pain is very rewarding,” said U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Cody Romero, a dental assistant assigned to Comfort. “It’s fulfilling work, helping the patients who need care they may not have access to.”
The medical care provided by the CP25 team brought new hope to Grenada. U.S. Navy Captain Shelton Viola, a pediatric physician assigned to Comfort, recalled a pediatric oncology case that his team encountered during the mission stop.
“There was word that came through when we were in Grenada that there was a young child with cancer and was very sick, so our team here reached out to let them know that there was a pediatric oncologist onboard,” said Capt. Viola. “I went over to the hospital and was expecting to find a child who was very ill with few treatment options, but I actually found a beautiful 3-year-old that was very ill, but had a very curable and very treatable form of childhood leukemia.”
B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the 3-year-old’s diagnosis, has a 94 percent survivability with proper treatment. After visiting with the family, Capt. Viola and his team developed a treatment plan with remote follow-ups and monitoring to maximize the child’s chances of success.
“I’ve totally changed my tune after this first mission stop, [we’re] altering this child’s trajectory for cancer care,” said Capt. Viola. “Hopefully this case can be a model for Grenada to develop a pediatric cancer program and start to question if there’s more that can be done for these types of cases than they thought.”
In addition to medical care, the CP25 team conducted community relations events in Carriacou and band events with the Royal Grenadian Police Force band throughout Grenada.
Following its departure from Grenada, Comfort continued on to Colón, Panama, for the second mission stop of CP25.
CP25, the 16th mission to the region since 2007 and the eighth aboard Comfort, aims to foster goodwill, strengthen existing partnerships with partner nations, and encourage the establishment of new partnerships among countries, non-federal entities, and international organizations.
