The Mercy-class hospital ship USNS Comfort returned to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on Sunday after a 79-day deployment.

The Comfort provided medical care and humanitarian assistance and strengthened relationships with partners in the Caribbean and South and Central America as part of U.S. 4th Fleet’s Continuing Promise 25 mission, according to a service news release.

“The Comfort team and our partners exceeded all expectations, delivering exceptional care and expertise at every mission stop,” said Capt. Ryan Kendall, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 40 and CP25 mission commander.

Comfort’s medical team provided care to 12,616 patients across six countries. Aboard the ship, surgeons performed 242 surgeries. At shore-based medical sites, the team treated 1,919 dental patients and filled 17,166 prescriptions. The biomedical crew restored more than $2,235,000 worth of medical equipment, including sterilizers, defibrillators, microscopes, X-ray and anesthesia units.

“Doing this type of work has been incredibly gratifying for me,” said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Malachi Gregory, assigned to the central sterilization room aboard Comfort. “Having the opportunity to come down here and help people who otherwise wouldn’t be helped, and seeing them afterwards with their families is what makes this mission worth it.”

CP25 is the 16th mission to the region since 2007, and the eighth aboard Comfort. The ship conducted port visits in Grenada, Panama, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Trinidad and Tobago.