Severe flooding, storm damage and power outages in the wake of Hurricane Helene continue to disrupt hospitals and their communities across the Southeast. The Category 4 storm made landfall Sept. 26 in Florida's Big Bend region.
Here are eight updates:
1. The death toll from the hurricane has reached at least 130 people across six states, with many more reported missing, according to CNN.
2. As of Oct. 1, more than 1.6 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, according to poweroutage.us.
3. ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda (Fla.), part of Port Charlotte, Fla.-based ShorePoint Health, and its emergency room are closed to repair storm damage. Physician clinics and outpatient services at the hospital's campus remain open, but clinic elevators in the medical office building are not operating.
4. All ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte services, including outpatient clinics and the emergency room, are open to patients.
5. The emergency room at ShorePoint Health Cape Coral (Fla.) is open and able to deliver care. All ShorePoint Center Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine clinics in Punta Gorda and Venice, Fla., are open and providing care to patients.
6. "So many in our community have experienced devastation from the storm, even some of our employees, and we know this is a challenging time," Andy Romine, CEO of ShorePoint Health, said on SharePoint Health's website. "Our priority is keeping safe, quality healthcare available to the community and we will reopen our Punta Gorda campus as soon as possible. We are grateful for the support provided by emergency management as our community recovers."
7. Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health deployed its mobile hospital unit Oct. 1 to Tryon, N.C., to help care for patients to be triaged, treated, sent home or transported to another hospital if in need of critical care, according to a Sept. 30 news release shared with Becker's. Atrium's "hospital on wheels" comprises 72 hours worth of emergency department supplies, 14 acute care beds, a two-bed operating room, nearly 12 vehicles, and an emergency department, the release said.
8. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare shared in an Oct. 1 news release that it will donate $1 million in aid to Hurricane Helene relief in North Carolina through community organizations. HCA will provide $250,000 to the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, $250,000 to American Red Cross of North Carolina and $500,000 to additional community partners that offer hurricane-related issues direct support.
Editor's note: This story was updated on Oct. 1 at 2:25 p.m. CT.