Working Environments
The hospital ship USNS Mercy enters Pearl Harbor for a port visit before returning to its homeport in San Diego. Mercy is in Hawaii after completing a humanitarian and civic assistance deployment to South and Southeast Asia.
USNS Mercy
Compassion on the Move
Named for the virtue of compassion, the USNS Mercy and its familiar white hull and red crosses are an answer to the prayers of patients across the globe.
Mercy’s mission is to provide rapid, flexible and mobile medical and surgical services for the United States military in peacetime and during military operations. She is also a fully functional floating hospital, providing state-of-the-art facilities and care for military personnel and civilians alike.
“We’ve performed lifesaving surgeries for people, and we’ve altered people’s lives in a lot of positive ways…I hope to foster and continue the relationships with all these countries and their people.”— CAPT Bradley Martin,
Mercy’s Mission Commander
The Ship Coming in for Those in Need
When disasters strike around the world, many of those afflicted can testify to the good that can arise out of the devastation. It was global news when a tsunami struck regions of Southeast Asia in late 2004. And as Martin describes, it was global outreach that arrived with the USNS Mercy — as medical care was provided to more than 200,000 victims as part of Operation Unified Assistance.
Over the years, Mercy has served on a number of other charitable missions, including a 2006 cruise to the Philippines and the South Pacific. This five-month deployment delivered humanitarian services to hundreds of thousands.
And Navy hospital ships are also on standby to help their own. The USNS Mercy crew and USNS Comfort personnel combined to actively support Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
An Investment in Tomorrow
Based out of San Diego, California, Mercy was built as an oil tanker in 1976. In 1984, she was converted to a hospital ship, renamed and commissioned two years later. With a total patient capacity of 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms, Mercy has all the features of a major medical facility, including:
- Casualty reception
- Radiological services
- Main laboratory plus satellite lab
- Central sterile receiving
- Medical supply/pharmacy
- Physical therapy and burn care
- Dental services
- Optometry/lens lab
- Morgue, laundry and oxygen producing plants
Mercy’s crew is a part of the staff of Naval Medical Center San Diego. From doctors, nurses and dentists to a highly skilled support staff, Mercy’s mission is to provide quality care for our fighting men and women and those most in need around the globe.