Ambassador Bryan Hunt and Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie Bunce toured the Global Mercy hospital ship and met with the U.S. crew. The Global Mercy is the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, constructed as the first purpose-built floating hospital for humanitarian organization Mercy Ships 1. The ship is owned by Mercy Ships, a US-based international charity organization focused on providing free healthcare to the world’s poorest regions 2. It is currently docked in Freetown, Sierra Leone for its next field service, where a crew of volunteer professionals will perform more than 2,350 surgeries over the course of 10 months 31.
The U.S. crew on board the Global Mercy is providing more than 2,350 free life-changing and lifesaving operations to the people of Salone over the coming months 3. The surgeries include maxillofacial and reconstructive surgeries, tumor removals, cleft lip and palate repair, reconstructive plastics, orthopedic surgery, cataract removal, obstetric fistula repair, and more 1. The Global Mercy is designed to double Mercy Ships annual medical capacity and has an expected lifespan of 50 years. It is expected that more than 150,000 lives will be transformed through surgery alone on the Global Mercy 1.
Global Mercy hospital ship provides 2,350 free surgeries