SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — UC San Francisco has sent a group of its health care workers to New York to assist with the coronavirus pandemic.

A team of 20 UCSF health care workers, 12 physicians and eight nurses, arrived to NYC on Saturday to begin a one-month voluntary assignment to provide much needed support for patients in New York.

“We are deeply grateful to UCSF Health and to this remarkable team of doctors and nurses who have selflessly stepped up to help care for our patients,” Dr. Steven J. Corwin, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian said. “Their willingness to set aside their own lives to come to the aid of colleagues across the country is truly extraordinary. We look forward to welcoming them to NewYork-Presbyterian.”

New York has the most cases in the United States, with a total of 188,694 confirmed cases and 9,385 reported deaths as of April 12.

The UCSF health care workers specialize in critical care, hospital medicine and emergency medicine. They were selected from more than 150 nurses and 50 physicians who volunteered for the assignment.

San Francisco, compared to NYC, has had far fewer cases and hospitalizations. As of April 6, there were 90 hospitalized patients in the city. As of April 9, 2020, UCSF Health had 20 hospitalized patients, with an additional 12 patients awaiting results of their tests.

“This is an opportunity for UCSF to support our health care colleagues on the front lines in New York City,” Josh Adler, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, UCSF Health said. “We remain focused on our patients here in San Francisco, and are very well resourced with health care workers should we face a surge ourselves, even with our volunteers in New York. But our present capacity allows us to extend our public health mission to those who are facing some of the country’s most challenging conditions during this pandemic.”

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