North Carolina hospitals still struggling after Helene’s devastation

It’s been nearly a week since the remnants of Hurricane Helen pummeled western North Carolina, and hospitals in the region continue to face significant challenges.

The U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response has sent medical teams to assist hospitals in western North Carolina. (Image: ASPR)

Some facilities operated without running water for days, or are just getting water restored. Federal response teams have been assisting hospitals in the Asheville area. Hundreds of nurses have traveled to Mission Hospital in Asheville, the only trauma center in the affected region.

More than 200 people have died due to Helene, making it the most lethal storm to hit the U.S. since Katrina in 2005, the Associated Press reports. About half of the deaths are in North Carolina, officials say. At least 72 people have died in Buncombe County, North Carolina, which includes Asheville, ABC News reported Thursday.

There are 22 acute care hospitals in the affected region, and on Thursday, all of the facilities were connected to utility power, according to the North Carolina Healthcare Association. The VA hospital in Asheville has been operating on backup power and is expected to until at least Friday, but the emergency room remains open.

Nurses, physicians dispatched

Mission Hospital in Asheville, owned by HCA Healthcare, is the region’s biggest hospital and has remained open throughout the emergency, though non-emergency surgeries and procedures have been postponed.

The facility was without running water for days, but the hospital has established a temporary water supply, giving the facility running water Friday, the North Carolina Healthcare Association said.

HCA Healthcare has sent more than 300 nurses and physicians to help Mission Hospital in North Carolina. (Image: HCA Healthcare)

HCA Healthcare says about 300 nurses, along with some physicians, have traveled to provide support and relief for Mission Hospital staff.

HCA says it has sent hundreds of thousands of bottles of water and tens of thousands of gallons of fuel to Mission Hospital, and has established satellite data networks. The health system has also set up mobile units with kitchens, bathrooms and handwashing stations. HCA has also set up “mini marts” outside the hospital with free groceries, water and toiletries.

Hannah Drummond, a nurse at Mission Hospital and the chief nurse representative for National Nurses United, the union that represents the hospital’s nurses, told NBC News that at one point, the emergency department had 200 people, twice its normal capacity. With the sewage system overwhelmed, toilets couldn’t be flushed and staff relieved themselves in bags and buckets.“I feel like I am in the middle of living a nightmare,” she told NBC News.

HCA Healthcare says all of its emergency departments in the region are open, but some services are limited and non-emergency surgeries have been postponed.

Asheville Specialty Hospital is without running water, and Blue Ridge Regional Hospital is using generator power and its back-up water supply, HCA says.

Full utilities have been restored at Highlands-Cashiers Hospital and Transylvania Regional Hospital, but elective procedures at those facilities have been canceled and will be rescheduled, according to HCA.

Federal response

The U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response has sent National Disaster Medical System teams to support hospitals in western North Carolina.

The U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response has sent teams to support hospitals in North Carolina after the heavy damage from Hurricane Helene.

Approximately 300 medical, public health, and disaster response personnel have been sent to the region.

The medical teams are offering surge support at Mission Hospital in Asheville and Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine. Working in medical tents outside the facilities, they are helping patients seeking care at both hospitals and managing the influx of patients arriving at the emergency departments. Federal teams are supporting air operations to transport patients to the hospitals.

In addition, federal teams are providing care at state medical support shelters in Catawba and Polk counties.

Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, said federal teams will stay as long as necessary.

“We are fully committed to supporting North Carolina in the aftermath of the storm until the state's health care systems return to normal operations,” O’Connell said in a statement.

The National Disaster Medical System has also sent a mortuary team to help local agencies handle the many fatalities in the region.

Conditions at four state-run facilities are slowly improving, the North Carolina Healthcare Association says. The Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center and Black Mountain are both relying on bottled water.

The North Carolina Healthcare Foundation has activated a disaster relief fund to help hospital employees that have been affected by the storm and suffered property damage. The North Carolina Nurses Association and the North Carolina Foundation for Nursing have also activated a recovery fund which will distribute aid directly to nurses who have suffered loss and damages.

Emergency changes to Medicaid program

Western North Carolina communities have suffered catastrophic flooding, destroying or damaging scores of roads throughout the region. Many businesses and homes have been wiped out.

Access to water remains a serious issue. As of Tuesday, western North Carolina had about 160 boil water advisories, with 27 water plants closed and not producing water, according to the state’s health department. State officials also urged residents to avoid drinking well water, with floodwaters contaminating wells with livestock waste, sewage and chemicals.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said it is enacting temporary changes to the state’s Medicaid program to enable people to refill prescriptions early and get needed services.

In Erwin, Tennessee, a rural community near the North Carolina border, rapid flooding inundated Unicoi County Hospital last Friday and forced dozens to flee to the roof before they could be evacuated via helicopter. The hospital remains closed.

Hospitals could see reduced supplies of IV fluids due to the impact of Helene. Baxter International, a medical technology company, operates a plant in Marion, North Carolina but the plant is closed due to heavy flooding.

The Baxter plant is a leading supplier of intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions and is the largest IV solutions plant in the country, according to Healthcare Ready, a nonprofit organization that works to ensure healthcare access during emergencies and natural disasters. Mass General Brigham says it has been advised that the health system will be seeing reduced supplies from Baxter, WCVB-TV reports.

Helene also caused significant damage in Florida, as the storm landed on the “Big Bend” region in the northwestern part of the state. Ahead of the storm, several Florida hospitals evacuated and transferred patients to other facilities. Many Florida hospital employees lost their homes in the storm, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association.