Maine Medical Center welcomed 15 medical professionals from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Saturday to help combat the surge in patient volume due to COVID-19, according to our news partners at CBS13.

Officials say the team from the National Disaster Medical System was sent to Maine Medical at the request of the state of Maine, and in collaboration with FEMA.

NDMS helps communities respond to and recover from public health emergencies and disasters.

The team will provide direct patient care in a new non-COVID acute care unit for the next two weeks, allowing the hospital to provide 11 additional beds for adult patients.

The NDMS team is expected to stay at MMC for 14 days, after which the state of Maine may submit a request for additional support, if needed.