Hospitals are finalizing contingency plans and transferring patients ahead of Hurricane Helene, which is set to make landfall in northwestern Florida late this evening as at least a Category 3 hurricane.
Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of the state’s 67 counties and has received approval for a pre-landfall disaster declaration request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for 41 counties. President Joe Biden made a similar emergency declaration the same day.
Air Force hurricane hunters found the maximum sustained winds have increased to 120 mph, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said around 2:30 p.m. ET Thursday. A Category 3 hurricane has wind speeds ranging from 111 mph to 129 mph, NBC reported.
The NHC called the storm "dangerous" and said further strengthening is expected before Helene makes landfall in the Big Bend Thursday evening.
In Georgia, which is also expected to feel the impact in “every part of our state,” Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Wednesday that was accompanied by the president’s declaration and instructions to FEMA. Tropical storm warnings also extend into eastern Alabama.
Forecasters have warned of damage from heavy rains, storm surges, strong winds and the potential for spinoff tornadoes. Multiple counties in the storm’s path have issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents.
“Although Florida has had some experience with this, [Hurricane Helene] seems to be on a scale that the state hasn’t seen in a very long time,” Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, which is helping coordinate emergency preparations for its members, told Fierce Healthcare.
Hospitals and health systems serving the region have posted public notices of visitation restrictions, procedure cancellations and temporary suspensions that require patient transfers.
HCA Healthcare’s 46-hospital Florida division website lists 10 hospitals with restrictions as of early Thursday afternoon. The system also posted notices that it has suspended services at West Tampa Hospital and Pasadena Hospital and successfully transferred patients to sister facilities elsewhere in the state.
In an 11:00 a.m., Thursday update, Tampa General Hospital said it closed its Crystal River acute care hospital and emergency center, which required discharges or transfers of all patients. Numerous other clinics, outpatient surgery centers and emergency centers in five counties were closed with plans to reopen most on Friday.
The system said it activated its emergency response plan Monday and has opened an incident command center “to enable and support continued operations.” Its flagship hospital, which serves as the region’s only Level I Trauma Center, has been prepared with stockpiled supplies, on-site staff, a central energy plant built in 2022 to be capable of withstanding a Category 5 hurricane and an AquaFence able to withstand storm surges up to 15 feet above sea level.
Posted notices from AdventHealth and BayCare say the systems have closed centers and clinics for Thursday but that all hospitals planned to remain open as of Thursday afternoon. Tallahassee Memorial Health also said it has closed urgent care centers and physician partner practices, and is rescheduling outpatient procedures at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.
Over in Georgia, Grady Memorial Hospital will remain open but is closing its neighborhood and hospital-based centers through Friday, with elective and nonurgent procedures also being rescheduled. The Carl Vinson VA Medical Center also listed several clinic closures though its main campus is expected to remain open, according to a release.
A representative for the Georgia Hospital Association told Fierce Healthcare that it is engaged with the state’s emergency management office and operations center “monitoring and coordinating any potential impacts or resulting needs, and Georgia’s hospitals are following their standard emergency preparedness plans.”
The group is also keeping an eye out for member requests “related to the provision of patient care, including potential flexibilities or waivers related to prior authorization requests.”
Mayhew said the Florida Hospital Association has been holding daily calls with its members and expects to do so in the days after the storm hits. These meetings allow the hospitals to coordinate each others' various needs related to transfers, supplies or electrical generators.
The association also makes sure to escalate these needs to state officials when necessary, she explained.
“I had a hospital yesterday that was trying to support a local nursing home that needed to evacuate,” she said. “They needed to acquire another generator. The state has been supporting that request.”
Though there haven’t been any curveballs so far, Mayhew said hospitals and officials have “significant concerns” around ambulance and emergency service transportation after the storm, as Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and other areas had already flooded earlier this year during “relatively minor” storms.
“The fact that our ground is saturated and susceptible to flooding, all of that [is] really playing into how the state and our local county emergency operation centers are preparing,” she said. “Hospitals need to understand all of the flood risks in their region.”
The other post-storm concerns at the top of hospitals list: stepping up when community-based resources like pharmacies or dialysis centers remain closed and ensuring that their workforces are still able to work.
For the latter, Mayhew noted that hospitals will have organized teams to remain on-site during the storm until they’re relieved by the next team. Ensuring that handover remains smooth, however, can be a challenge when local infrastructure is under duress.
“After Hurricane Ian [in 2022], Lee Health had a very high percentage of employees that they were not able to reach [because] cell phone towers were down,” Mayhew recalled. “All of that is being taken into consideration—what kinds of communication? Where do employees go to make sure they’re aware of what the hospital needs? All of that is being planned and discussed so that everyone’s acutely aware as we respond and recover from the storm.”
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