As Helene threatens, Florida hospitals and care facilities shore up resources

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Source: The Washington Post
Author: Sabrina Malhi
Date: September 26, 2024

Florida’s hospitals and long-term care facilities were shoring up resources Thursday as Hurricane Helene threatened to disrupt water and power supplies as well as cellphone service across the state’s Big Bend region and west coast.

As the menacing, sprawling storm approached, hospitals that escaped the devastating consequences of past hurricanes braced for what the National Hurricane Center described as a potentially “catastrophic and deadly” storm.

Long-term-care facilities were struggling to evacuate patients because of logistical hurdles, including transferring patients, according to Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. People living at home faced challenges, too, she said.

“You also have individuals in their homes who have a dependency on medical equipment because of complex medical conditions,” Mayhew said. “They may need to be out of their homes and need sheltering, but they need sheltering that can support their medical equipment.”

Smaller hospitals in Florida’s Panhandle region were evacuated, Mayhew said. She said Helene could cause devastation for communities that rely on health-care facilities for routine outpatient services.

“Millions of individuals will be impacted, and it’s not just the area that is subject to the hurricane warning,” Mayhew said, adding that other areas could also receive flooding.

Mayhew said one health system had to evacuate because a city’s public water system failed.

In Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, where the storm surge could be life-threatening, ambulances have moved patients from HCA Florida Pasadena Hospital and HCA Florida West Tampa Hospital to sister facilities.

Tallahassee Memorial Health said it continued to operate with some adjustments: Elective surgeries were postponed, and only one visitor per patient at a time was allowed at the hospital.

With the storm expected to barrel inland toward Georgia, Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta said in a statement that it was rescheduling elective surgeries and procedures that aren’t urgent. The hospital system also closed neighborhood and hospital-based health centers through Friday.

The storm continued to grow Thursday, blossoming in the early evening into a Category 4 storm with life-threatening winds and heavy rain.

On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) declared a state of emergency in 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, allowing state and local governments easier access to emergency funding and resources to respond to Hurricane Helene.

While smaller counties might be fractured by the storm, hospital systems in larger cities and counties, such as Tampa General Hospital, said they were prepared. Tampa General is the region’s only Level 1 trauma center.

AdventHealth, Florida’s largest hospital system, said its hospitals and emergency rooms remained open. The health system said no evacuations had been conducted and operations were normal at its Tampa location.

Tampa General installed a portable flood barrier Monday called an AquaFence. On Thursday, essential health-care providers and support staff trained in emergency management arrived for work at 7 a.m. and were expected to remain on-site throughout the storm to care for patients.

The hospital completed work in 2022 on a $54 million energy plant designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, giving administrators confidence that power will stay on during Helene.