After Danish Medevac, Trump Sends Hospital Ship to Greenland
On Saturday, the Danish Navy medevaced a sailor from a U.S. Navy submarine and delivered the individual for urgent medical treatment in Nuuk, Greenland. Hours later, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would be dispatching a U.S. Navy hospital ship to Danish-governed Greenland, where politicians insist that the assistance is not needed. The president has frequently expressed a desire to annex the island, and relations with Denmark are at a historic low.
The exchange began Saturday when a U.S. Navy submarine requested a medevac for a crewmember. The individual needed urgent attention. Luckily, the sub was located just seven nautical miles off Nuuk, the capital of Greenland and home of the largest hospital on the island. A helicopter from the patrol vessel HDMS Vaedderen (Aries) picked up the patient and delivered them to shore for treatment.
The nature of the submarine's mission so close to Greenland's capital - and the condition of the crewmember in question - were not immediately disclosed. The U.S. Navy and the White House have declined to confirm the incident.
Hours after the medevac, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was ordering a U.S. Navy hospital "boat" to Greenland. The message was accompanied by an illustration of USNS Mercy, a 1,000-bed hospital ship typically deployed for medical diplomacy and natural disasters.
"We are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way!" Trump said. Louisiana Governor and White House Greenland envoy Jeff Landry, who has previously said that he will help "make Greenland a part of the U.S.," has been tasked with organizing the hospital ship mission.
Of the places USNS Mercy has been tasked to assist over the last 40 years, Greenland has one of the more generous public healthcare systems. Under Danish governance, Greenland provides free medical care and free prescription drugs to all citizens, and it maintains a network of clinics and medical centers with no-charge access. Inhabitants of the farthest-flung settlements have to travel long distances to get care, and the central hospital is said to be due for renovation, but modern services are provided at no charge. For advanced medical care beyond that available on the island, patients are flown to Copenhagen for further free treatment. Greenlandic and Danish leaders have noted the differences between their system and American health care in pointed statements.
“We have a public healthcare system where treatment is free for citizens. That is a deliberate choice — and a fundamental part of our society. That is not the case in the United States, where seeing a doctor comes at a cost," retorted Jens Frederik Nielsen, Greenland's prime minister.
Both of the Navy's hospital ships are currently in Mobile for shipyard maintenance, and it was not immediately clear if either was in condition to get under way promptly. The vessels are converted single-hull oil tankers, and are now more than 50 years old (including their early years served in tanker configuration).
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
The mission to Greenland means that one of these advanced hospital ships will be removed from Alabama, where more than 400,000 state residents lack health insurance coverage. The difference between the two locales was picked up by Danish politicians.
"I am happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to healthcare for all. Where it is not insurance and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment," Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen wrote on Facebook. "There is the same approach in Greenland."
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
