The temporary facility for treating COVID-19 patients located on the grounds of the South Beach Psychiatric Center is no longer needed.

The hospital, run by Northwell Health, opened last spring for a short time but reopened in November as the area saw a large increase in covid cases during the second wave of the virus. More than 1,000 patients were treated here.

"If it wasn’t for this escape valve and this ability to treat more people, more bad things would have happened to the horrible things weve already witnessed,” said Staten Island University Hospital Executive Director Brahim Ardolic.

Doctors, nurses and staff gathered around as the last patient left the facility. The work at the temporary facility is now complete for these healthcare workers.

“If you think about what it takes for a human being to every single day to say, ‘You know what, I'm going to work an extra shift, but I'm not even gonna go back to my regular job, I'm gonna go work an extra shift where we take care of only COVID patients,' and to actually have the intestinal fortitude and the will to do that and to understand what that actually means, I am eternally grateful,” Ardolic said.  

The closure of this field hospital is a sign of hope that the end is near, but doctors here are still encouraging wearing a mask and getting your vaccine so that we can all celebrate the end of this long journey together. 

Correction: An earlier version of this story referenced a 100-year-old woman as one of the last patients discharged from the hospital. The hospital later clarified that the video it provided NY1 was from January.