A medical mission from Warsaw’s Military Institute of Medicine departed for Chicago on Thursday (23 April 2020), in order to help with the daily fight against COVID-19, and to exchange lessons learned and best practices.

The nine-member team will visit various hospitals in Chicago over the course of their week-long mission, and are due to share their knowledge through seminars and webinars with medical institutions including John H. Stroger Hospital, Cermak Health – Cook County, and the Rush University Medical Center. The Polish doctors will also work alongside their US counterparts to treat patients at the McCormick Place Convention Center, the largest field hospital in the city.

NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu welcomed the mission, saying: “NATO Allies stand in solidarity in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working together, our nations have been helping each other to save lives, including by sharing medical expertise. The Polish medical mission to Chicago shows once again that in facing global challenges, we are stronger together.”

Polish doctors from the Military Institute of Medicine, together with their colleagues from The Polish Center for International Aid, previously helped doctors in Italy’s Lombardy region, and are currently also working with Slovenian doctors in Ljubljana.