National Guard arrives in Rochester to help local hospitals

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Members of the National Guard arrived in the Rochester area Saturday morning to help with health care staffing shortages as COVID-19 cases continue to surge.

There will be 26 guard members working in teams of two at Monroe Community Hospital, which is the county’s nursing home. They will care for patients there starting on Monday. The members are trained as EMT’s.

Adding the National Guard staff will allow hospitals like Strong to release patients to the nursing home who don’t need to be in the hospital any longer. The goal is to increase our hospital capacity.