The Naval hospital ship USNS Comfort is set to leave New York City’s harbor after it floated for three weeks mostly empty of patients.

And in White Plains, the Westchester County Center was ready to open this week as an overflow hospital but questions arose whether the 110 beds would be needed as the spread of the coronavirus shows signs of slowing.

“What we did was prepare for the worst and if the best comes to pass then we’ll consider ourselves fortunate,” said George Latimer, county executive of Westchester, which owns and runs the center.

Projections about the spread of the coronavirus sent New York state scrambling to increase its hospital bed capacity by more than double its 53,000 limit.

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The federal government was called in to convert spaces like the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan into overflow hospitals, but a month after shutdown efforts, that capacity hasn’t been stretched to its limits. Comfort and its 1,000 hospital beds sailed into New York late last month, but was under scrutiny for being sparsely used.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with President Donald Trump Tuesday and their discussion included Comfort. They agreed the ship can be sent elsewhere.

Of four overflow hospitals built in the state, only the Javits Center has taken patients so far, according to state officials. Although the overflow hospital construction was overseen by the federal government, it was coordinated with the state Department of Health.

The Army Corps of Engineers oversaw the construction of the hospital space at the county center, with about half of its beds built under tents in the center’s parking lot. A Long Island firm company, Haugland Energy Group, received a contract totaling at least $30 million for the conversion — the initial deal was $15 million on March 27, but Department of Defense records show it was adjusted by another $15 million on April 3.

The defense department lists all contracts each day but only if they exceed $7 million. It’s not clear if there were additional contracts beyond that figure, nor is it clear how much of the contract was paid. A spokesman for the Army Corps didn't return an email Wednesday.

Latimer said officials were inspecting the center on Wednesday and a list of projects on the Army Corps website said it was being commissioned the same day for medical gas use.

Westchester has a 3,000-hospital bed capacity but the number of people hospitalized hasn’t pushed beyond half that to date. Officials are hopeful social distancing measures and the shutdown of schools, most businesses and recreation has slowed the spread of the virus enough that the peak will never reach the heights that were feared.

The center, known as the home of the development league Westchester Knicks, couldn’t host events anyway, Latimer said. The space will be kept in place for possible use in case of a spike in cases, or for other uses.

Latimer said officials feared what was seen in China, Italy and Spain, where there were more people sick than there was hospital space.

“Then we’d have people on cots in gymnasiums, and unable to get the proper health care, not enough of the equipment needed,” Latimer said during a Wednesday briefing held on Zoom.

“I’d rather be criticized generically for preparing for the worst and it not happening then assuming it wasn’t going to happen and having the worst happen,” Latimer added.

USA Today Network New York Editor Joseph Spector contributed reporting.

Mark Lungariello covers government and politics. Follow him on Facebook @lungariello and Twitter @marklungariello. For our latest subscription offers click here.