Hospitals in Florida are coordinating patient transfers and ensuring they have adequate fuel supplies for their generators ahead of the second major hurricane headed for the state in less than two weeks.
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 5 storm by mid-day Oct. 7. It's expected to make landfall on the evening of Oct. 9 in the Tampa Bay region as a Category 3 storm. While it's expected to weaken as it approaches the state's Gulf Coast, it is forecast to remain "an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall," according to the National Hurricane Center. As of Oct. 7, 15 million people in the Florida Peninsula were under flood watches and 11 million are at risk for tropical tornadoes.
"A large area of destructive storm surge from #Milton will occur along parts of the West Coast of Florida on Wednesday," the National Hurricane Center wrote in a post on social media platform X. "This is an extremely life-threatening situation & residents should follow advice given by local officials & evacuate immediately if told to do so."
The storm follows Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region Sept. 26 and has killed more than 230 people in six states, NBC News reported Oct. 7.
Four things to know:
- Among the greatest risks hospitals may face from Hurricane Milton is flooding, Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, told Becker's. Hospitals are assessing potential risks both to their facilities and to roads needed to transport patients. "They're going through a litany of scenarios as they prepare," she said.
Hospital and state officials are communicating closely to ensure appropriate care coordination efforts and resource allocation ahead of the storm. For instance, hospitals are ensuring they have adequate fuel supplies to operate generators since the Port of Tampa had been closed due to the dockworkers strike and has affected distribution, Ms. Mayhew said. - So far, at least 64 healthcare facilities have reported evacuations, Gov. Ron DeSanitis' office said Oct. 7. AdventHealth North Pinellas in Tarpon Springs is evacuating 40 patients ahead of the storm. Hospital officials anticipate the evacuation process will be complete within 24 hours, according to a news release sent to Becker's.
HCA Florida Healthcare is also transferring patients from facilities "most directly in the storm's expected path" to sister facilities throughout the state, the health system said in a statement.
"Our preparedness activities include ensuring our hospitals have enough staff, medications, supplies, food, water and generator power to continue to operate and care for our patients during and after the storm," HCA Florida said. - Many others are working to expedite discharges for patients who no longer need hospital care, according to Ms. Mayhew. The state's hospital association has convened health systems across Florida to ensure hospitals in the direct path of the storm are supported with any specific needs. Those not in the direct path have offered to assist with patient evacuations and to receive patients, she said.
- Hurricane Milton could potentially exacerbate an already significant shortage of IV fluids that hospitals across the country are grappling with in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Last month's storm significantly damaged a Baxter International plant in North Carolina that manufactures around 60% of IV solutions used in the U.S. The facility is temporarily closed and it's unclear when it may reopen.
"Now, you factor in a hurricane that could interfere [with] shipments … that's just going to compound what is already a reduced supply," for hospitals across the state, Ms. Mayhew said.