Hurricane Milton is expected to hit Florida on Oct. 9 and cause significant disruption as a Category 3 storm. It will be the second hurricane to hit Florida's Gulf Coast in two weeks, and hospitals have taken a variety of measures to prepare.
While at least 17 hospitals have evacuated and others transferred patients, others have stockpiled supplies and will rely on emergency preparedness protocols to weather the storm. Hurricane Helene, which hit Florida Sept. 26, disrupted operations for hospitals across six states and caused damage to Baxter International's plant in North Carolina, which produced 60% of the IV solutions for the U.S.
Hospitals disrupting services will see a pay dip, compounded by rebuilding and recovery expenses to restore damages from the storm. Staff displaced by the hurricane will also affect hospitals' ability to care for patients and restore full capacity.
Luckily, many health systems in Florida's Gulf Coast are in a strong financial position ahead of the hurricane, according to Moody's.
"Not-for-profit healthcare systems in Milton's path have very good liquidity and many have a broad physical footprint, strengths that will limit credit impacts from immediate disruptions," said Vanessa Chebli, associate lead analyst for Moody's. "Most critical in the aftermath of Milton will be assessing the impact to broader communities and the extent to which patient and staff access is impeded, which could lead to more material operational disruptions."
It could take time to fully realize the financial hit from the hurricane. In 2022, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare incurred extra expenses from Hurricane Ian, which also led to an estimated $35 million lost revenues.