By Steve Klamkin WPRO News

Nearly two dozen members of a military medical team that helped ease the burden on overwhelmed hospital personnel during the covid omicron surge are getting ready to leave Rhode Island after nearly seven weeks.

“Six weeks ago, a group of 26 military health personnel came like the cavalry to help us when we were at our most dire,” said Dr. Saul Weingart, President of Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

“They were an enormous, enormous help. We’re going to miss them dearly, and we are so grateful for the service that they provided to our patients, to our staff and to our community,” Weingart said.

The team was comprised of pulmonary and other specialists, and during their time in Rhode Island, covid and omicron cases dwindled to more manageable numbers, Dr. Weingart said.

“We are so glad that we were able to provide some of our expertise in needed medical care to the community here at Rhode Island,” said the unit’s officer-in-charge, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Edgardo Ramirez. He said the team members were welcomed with open arms throughout their stay.

“From staying at the hotel, and the community receiving us, and we’d walk around and we’d have the Rhode Island community thanking us for our service, and thanking us for being here and helping the community with the covid, it has been a great experience,” he said.

Dr. Weingart said the hospitals planned a special “good night lights” observance for the military team, in which first responders and members of the public flash their lights toward the hospital after sundown, often brightening the spirits of patients at both Rhode Island and Hasbro Children’s Hospitals.