BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Governor Kathy Hochul and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will deploy United States military hospital support to Erie County Medical Center next week.

ECMC said in a news release the support is coming as COVID-19 continues to impact staffing and operations at its hospital. A 20-member clinical Medium Medical Team will be onsite for about 30 days, they’re expected to arrive in town this weekend and should be running next week.

The team is made up of four physicians, 14 nurses, two respiratory techs and additional three non-clinical administrative support members. The deployment to ECMC is part of the state’s Winter Surge Plan 2.0.

“On behalf of our dedicated frontline caregivers, we are grateful to Governor Hochul and the federal Department of Defense for this very timely and needed support,” said Thomas J. Quatroche Jr. PhD, president and CEO, Erie County Medical Center Corporation. We will welcome warmly the members of the Medium Medical Team into our ECMC Family and look forward to their collaboration and participation as we continue to fight against the COVID-19 virus and maintain our high quality care for the residents of Western New York.”