US Army vet-turned-NY-congressman dons uniform to build COVID-19 hospital
Exchanging his suit and tie for military fatigues, United States Army veteran-turned-congressman Max Rose worked through the first half of April together with the National Guard to transform a brand-new, unoccupied psychiatric facility into the nation’s first state-run, COVID-19-only emergency hospital.
Raised in a Jewish-American family in Brooklyn, New York, Rose has been advocating on Capitol Hill for his constituency in neighboring Staten Island since 2019. He is also a combat veteran of the War in Afghanistan and continues to fulfill his military obligations, announcing in March his plans to deploy with the National Guard to assist in New York City’s coronavirus response.
As the new 262-unit facility in Staten Island’s South Beach Psychiatric Center readied to admit its first patient, Rose said, the National Guard offered a touching tribute.
“The soldiers were in their uniforms, and the doctors and nurses were in their uniforms,” Rose recalled in a phone interview with The Times of Israel. “The soldiers applauded the front line medical professionals and said, ‘You are the soldiers in this war. We’re here for you.’”
Rose, who holds the rank of captain in the National Guard, served as an operations officer during his recent deployment. He said that his role was “kind of logistical” as he worked to ensure that the facility would meet patients’ needs. This included bringing in new hospital beds, as well as oxygen concentrators. Of the Guardsmen in general, he said, “Certainly they followed all necessary precautions, wearing a mask as well as social distancing when they could.”
Elected as a Democrat to the 11th Congressional District in 2018, Rose is the first combat veteran from the post-9/11 era to represent New York City in Congress. In his recent deployment, he served with the historic 69th Infantry Regiment, the second-oldest unit in the US, dating back to the 19th century. It is the same unit Rose served with from 2012-13 in Afghanistan, where he won a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Combat Infantry Badge.
“It always is a privilege to put the uniform back on,” Rose said. “It’s an incredible privilege to serve with my old unit.” This time, he said, the enemy is “a silent, vicious virus” that does not discriminate against “race, creed, socioeconomic status, religion or political affiliation.”
He’s been vocal in urging US President Donald Trump to treat the coronavirus crisis as a war.
“We are at war,” Rose said. “I’m asking the president to assume his full authority as commander-in-chief to win this war, use every tool in his disposal.” He added that if the US can win this war, “nothing would make me happier, thousands of lives [would be saved], [we can] open up the economy as quickly as possible.”
On Monday, during an appearance on the ABC TV show “The View,” Rose was asked about a previous statement of his, in which he expressed a wish to see Trump win the war against the coronavirus even if it meant the president’s reelection.
In response, Rose pointed to a statement by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after Barack Obama was first elected president in 2008. McConnell vowed that his singular priority would be to prevent Obama’s reelection.
We have to just think about the future of this country and beating this virus
“I’m never going to stoop down to that level,” Rose told Hostin, adding, “We can’t think about politics right now. We can’t think about an election. We have to just think about the future of this country and beating this virus.”
This spring, in Passover and Easter greetings that Rose shared on Twitter, there were messages of support for those affected by the pandemic. He also shared condolences on social media after the death from coronavirus of A. Romi Cohn, a Staten Island rabbi and Holocaust survivor whom Rose invited to recite an opening prayer to Congress earlier this year.
Rose — whose parents work in health care and social welfare — expressed admiration for “[those] out there through thick and thin for months now, including… doctors who lost loved ones, or with their whole families in the ICU, still working 18 hours a day, and nurses who are not able to hug their children for over a month, and still soldier on.”
He noted that the hospital he helped create is located next to a testing site administering 1,000 tests a day. The borough of Staten Island is administering more tests than 20 entire US states, he added.
There isn’t anywhere in the country that’s doing enough testing
But, he said, “There isn’t anywhere in the country that’s doing enough testing.” He urged the federal government to get more involved, such as in “the production of more lab equipment.”
He credited New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the executive team of Staten Island University Hospital for the success of creating the new emergency hospital. In general, he said, “I commend the governor’s leadership. He is deserving of the title ‘America’s Governor,’ leading us through the epicenter of the crisis.”
Yet Rose voiced frustration with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. “There are certain ways that the mayor, I believe, continues to ignore Staten Island, which is a general pattern of his,” Rose said, listing examples in the amount of personal protective equipment and the distribution of medical supplies.
The Congressman said he worked to ensure that Staten Island would not miss out on up-to-date information during his deployment. While he was working on the hospital, Rose’s office released what he called a comprehensive resource guide while securing millions in federal funding for universities and colleges, as well as community health centers.
“I’m blessed with an extraordinary staff,” said Rose, who praised them for the resource guide. “We’ll continue a significant outreach in the region.”
“It’s a privilege to be in uniform,” he said, “and a privilege to be back.”