By Devina Bose
AP Health Writer
ERWIN, Tenn. 鈥� While hospitals and healthcare organizations in the Southeast largely stayed open and functioning during to provide essential care for their communities, they were not unscathed.
battered the region鈥檚 health centers, causing blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding 鈥� leading to a dramatic rescue of patients and workers at the Unicoi County Hospital in eastern Tennessee.
Most hospitals used generators or backup systems to power their facilities through the hurricane. Many places halted elective procedures. Few closed completely.
Providers, like their communities, are now in the recovery phase. Healthcare workers are still unaccounted for in western North Carolina, where at least 57 people died . Officials also say mental health care facilities were destroyed in that area.
Healthcare executives across the Southeast all say it鈥檒l be a long road back to normal.
鈥淚 feel really positive about our health care system鈥檚 response,鈥� said Rob Hudspeth, senior vice president at UNC Health Appalachian. 鈥淏ut this is not going to be a one or two-week set of circumstances.鈥�
Trying to call staff in North Carolina
All three of UNC Health Appalachian鈥檚 facilities were on backup power supplies at one point and they were fully stocked with supplies, including oxygen, Hudspeth said. But some things are harder to predict, like the collapse of cellphone networks and roads.
Until Monday, the system had no way to communicate with staff. As of Wednesday, 25% of UNC Health Appalachian鈥檚 staff was unaccounted for. The biggest challenge now, Hudspeth said, is locating those people.
Ten of 13 in western North Carolina are severely damaged, if not totally destroyed, said ReAnne Mayo, spokesperson for Agape Health Services, which is not affiliated with the ones that were damaged but is part of a network of community health centers. They are also struggling to locate staff.
The centers are essential to providing primary care and mental health care to their communities.
鈥淚 think that everyone prepared for a catastrophe, but not an all-out wipeout,鈥� Mayo said. 鈥淭he one concern I really have is the aftermath. How long can someone go without treatment and medications, especially behavioral health, before it becomes catastrophic?鈥�
Mission Hospital in Asheville is setting up mobile units with kitchens, bathrooms and handwashing stations, as well as 鈥淢ini Marts鈥� stocked with free food, water and toiletries.
鈥淗ospitals are really great at being able to anticipate what the immediate needs are going to be,鈥� said Tatyana Kelly, senior vice president of the North Carolina Healthcare Association. 鈥淚n good news, one of the things that鈥檚 a huge success is that no facilities are closed.鈥�
Power returning, hospitals reopening
South Carolina officials said Monday that power was back on at all hospitals. Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in the northwest part of the state, said that 鈥渘umerous partners have worked together to address a critical need for those with oxygen concentrators, organizing charging stations where individuals can access life-saving power.鈥�
At least 540,000 people in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina use in-home medical equipment powered by electricity, an Associated Press analysis of federal Medicare data shows.
Grid power was back on at all 22 acute-care hospitals in western North Carolina on Wednesday, state officials said.
In eastern Tennessee, hospital chain Ballad Health had to evacuate patients and staff from its Sycamore Shoals Hospital in fear of rising floodwaters on Friday. But by Wednesday, it was accepting patients again.
Its Unicoi County Hospital, where staff and patients fled to the roof as floodwaters swamped the building, now has a propane leak and is still closed.
Florida鈥檚 hospitals 鈥榗ontinually鈥� tested
Hospitals along Florida鈥檚 Gulf Coast and panhandle were well-prepared for Helene, thanks to experience and statewide coordination, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association.
鈥淯nfortunately, we have had far too many experiences over many years for hospitals to be continually testing their emergency preparedness,鈥� she said.
Tampa General Hospital successfully used a temporary floodwall to avoid a water surge as Helene rolled in Thursday. Erinn Skiba, assistant director of public safety at the hospital, said they鈥檝e only had to deploy it a few times prior to Helene.
鈥淲e have not seen a storm of this size impact the west central Florida in decades,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o this storm really tested it, and it kept us dry.鈥�
Only six hospitals out of 300-plus in Florida had to evacuate, Mayhew said. And of health care network HCA Florida鈥檚 46 hospitals, only its Pasadena location remained closed Wednesday.
Wind problems in Georgia
Georgia health care centers felt the effects of Helene鈥檚 high-speed winds. Patients had to be moved to another part of Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla during the storm because a nearby gas station caught fire, hospital CFO Krystal Carver said.
An hour south in Valdosta, a downed tree blocked the South Georgia Medical Center鈥檚 driveway on Thursday night, blocking a family from getting care, public information officer Erika Bennett said. Staffers ran out to help them get inside 鈥� part of an overall hurricane effort deemed 鈥渉eroic鈥� by Ronald Dean, the CEO of the four-hospital system who was at the main campus in Valdosta that night.
Hospital system administrators started preparing days ahead, making sure backup generators and communication systems were ready to go. They paused elective surgeries while on emergency power.
South Georgia Medical Center resumed normal operations Tuesday.
鈥淏eing this far inland, we鈥檝e really we鈥檝e never imagined we鈥檇 have 100-plus mile-per-hour winds and the devastation that we experienced as a result of the storm,鈥� Dean said. 鈥淎nd truthfully, I hope I never do again.鈥�