A team of 60 medical professionals from Cayuga Health System in upstate Ithaca, New York, took the trip to help New York City take on the coronavirus crisis.  

They left early in the morning Wednesday with a parade sendoff before heading to Manhattan to save lives at New York Presbyterian Well Cornell.

"It's been a heartwarming experience in pulling this all together."

System Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Louanne Giangreco said.

NY1 caught up with Dr. Louanne Giangreco, leading the effort. She's been a doctor for more than 15 years and says she has never seen a crisis like this.

"I've never had an experience like this before where we deployed a team to another hospital in New York,” Dr. Giangreco said.

Since the outbreak has not hit Upstate as hard, they knew they had the manpower to do lend a hand.

"We heard the stories, we saw the need, and we really wanted to respond,”Dr. Giangreco said.

It was because of Cayuga Health System’s generosity, that the whole trip came together. 

"We reached out downstate to know where we could help and define the need,” Dr. Giangreco said.

In a matter of hours of the staff learning about the opportunity to help in New York, they had more than 100 professionals ready to come on board.

"People go into health care so they can help people and make that difference in their lives. Our health is our foundation to everything to everything else that we do,” Dr. Giangreco said.

Dr. Giangreco and her colleagues are going above and beyond to help New York City, leaving behind their loved ones for a month to go into uncharted territory.

"I have two teenage daughters who are staying back in town and they understand the importance of this work,” Dr. Giangreco said.

“It was the right thing to do. We have the capacity to help."

The team started virtual training a few weeks ago and are starting on site Thursday.