While hospitals and healthcare organizations in the Southeast largely remained open and functioning during the crisis Hurricane Helene In order to provide essential care for their community, they were not left unscathed.

The massive system has battered health centers in the region, causing power outages, wind damage, supply problems and flooding a dramatic rescue of patients and employees at Unicoi County Hospital in eastern Tennessee.

Most hospitals used generators or backup systems to power their facilities through the hurricane. Elective procedures have been halted in many places. Few are completely closed.

Providers, like their communities, are now in the recovery phase. There are still no health workers in western North Carolina, where at least 57 people have died in and around Asheville. Officials also say mental health services in that area have been devastated.

Health care leaders in the Southeast all say it will be a long road to getting back to normal.

“I am very positive about the response of our health care system,” said Rob Hudspeth, senior vice president at UNC Health Appalachian. “But this won’t be a one- or two-week situation.”

I’m trying to call staff in North Carolina

All three UNC Health Appalachian facilities were on backup power at one point and were fully stocked with supplies, including oxygen, Hudspeth said. But some things are harder to predict, such as the collapse of mobile phone networks and roads.

Until Monday, the system was unable to communicate with staff. As of Wednesday, 25% of UNC Health Appalachian staff were missing. The biggest challenge now, Hudspeth said, is locating those people.

Ten of 13 community health centers in western North Carolina have been severely damaged if not completely destroyed, said ReAnne Mayo, spokesperson for Agape Health Services, which has no ties to the damaged hospitals but is part of a network of community health centers. They also have difficulty finding staff.

The centers are essential for delivering primary care and mental health services to their communities.

“I think everyone has prepared for catastrophe, but not for total extermination,” Mayo said. “The only concern I really have is the aftermath. How long can someone go without treatment and medications, especially in behavioral health, before it becomes catastrophic?”

Mission Hospital in Asheville is setting up mobile units with kitchens, bathrooms and handwashing stations, as well as “Mini Marts” stocked with free food, water and toiletries.

“Hospitals are very good at being able to anticipate immediate needs,” said Tatyana Kelly, senior vice president of the North Carolina Healthcare Association. “The good news is that one of the things that has been a huge success is that no facilities have been closed.”

The power returns, hospitals reopen

South Carolina officials said Monday that power had been restored to all hospitals. Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in the northwestern part of the state said that “numerous partners have worked together to meet a critical need for those with oxygen concentrators, organizing charging stations where individuals can access life-saving energy.”

At least 540,000 people in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina use home medical equipment powered by electricity, an Associated Press analysis of federal Medicare data shows.

Power was restored to all 22 acute care hospitals in western North Carolina on Wednesday, state officials said.

In eastern Tennessee, hospital chain Ballad Health had to evacuate patients and staff from Sycamore Shoals Hospital on Friday for fear of rising water. But on Wednesday it was accepting patients again.

Unicoi County Hospital, where staff and patients fled to the roof when water flooded the building, now has a propane leak and remains closed.

Florida hospitals are being tested ‘constantly’

Hospitals along Florida’s Gulf Coast and Panhandle were well prepared for Helene, thanks to experience and statewide coordination, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association.

“Unfortunately, we have had far too many experiences in recent years for hospitals to continually test their emergency preparedness,” she said.

Tampa General Hospital successfully used a temporary flood wall to prevent a flood of water when Helene rolled in on Thursday. Erinn Skiba, assistant director of public safety at the hospital, said they only had to deploy it a few times before Helene.

“We haven’t seen a storm of this magnitude hitting west-central Florida in decades,” she said. “So this storm really tested it and kept us dry.”

Only six of Florida’s more than 300 hospitals had to be evacuated, Mayhew said. And of the 46 hospitals of healthcare network HCA Florida, only the Pasadena location remained closed on Wednesday.

Wind problems in Georgia

Health care centers in Georgia felt the effects of Helene’s swift winds. Patients had to be moved to another part of Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla during the storm because a nearby gas station caught fire, hospital CFO Krystal Carver said.

An hour south in Valdosta, a fallen tree blocked the driveway of South Georgia Medical Center Thursday evening, preventing a family from receiving care, Public Information Officer Erika Bennett said. Employees rushed outside to help them get in — part of an overall hurricane effort that was deemed “heroic” by Ronald Dean, the CEO of the four-hospital system, who was on the main campus in Valdosta that evening.

Hospital system administrators began preparations days in advance, ensuring backup generators and communications systems were ready to go. They paused elective surgeries while on emergency power.

South Georgia Medical Center resumed normal operations on Tuesday.

“Being so far inland, we really never imagined that we would be dealing with winds of over 100 miles per hour and the devastation that we would experience as a result of the storm,” Dean said. “And honestly, I hope I never do that again.”

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Associated Press data journalist Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report.

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