HHS implements tiered hurricane relief strategy for hospitals in Puerto Rico

The Department of Health and Human Services yesterday announced a three-tiered strategy to support hospitals in Puerto Rico following hurricanes Irma and Maria. Under the strategy, the agency has deployed medical teams with their own equipment and medical supplies to help provide care at an emergency and trauma center in San Juan; dispatched medical teams and set up temporary medical sites to augment one hospital in each of five regions of the territory; and placed a liaison in each of the other open hospitals to monitor needs and alert officials if a generator fails and patients must be evacuated to other hospitals. All but two hospitals on the island are operational in some capacity, HHS said. Among other actions, a Department of Defense hospital ship with 250 beds and more than 500 personnel is on its way to the island to provide additional surge capacity, and HHS is deploying five medical stations with up to 250 beds each to serve as shelters for people with special medical need. HHS also is referring health care organizations interested in offering bulk medical supplies and/or treatment personnel to the volunteer registration webpage for the National Voluntary Organizations Active In Disaster.