To help communities rebuild, Congress needs to consider tax-paying hospitals’ coordinated, lifesaving support

By Chip Kahn, President and CEO, Federation of American Hospitals

In early October, when Hurricanes Helene and Milton were threatening the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, hospitals up and down the East Coast were prepared to protect patients and continue providing 24/7 care.  

The back-to-back historic storms washed out roads, caused widespread cell and power outages, and disrupted critical supply chains leading to a shortage of IV fluids. Despite these enormous obstacles, FAH member hospitals stepped up to the plate, calling on additional manpower and resources from their broad networks, activating lifelines of support for affected colleagues and their families, and serving their communities way beyond the care provided inside their building walls.  

Preparing for the Worst. Anticipating Hurricane Helene and Milton’s arrivals through state-of-the-art monitoring, FAH member hospitals tapped broad and integrated networks of care to prepare, plan, and ensure uninterrupted patient care. Their ability to prepare and respond in situations like this is rooted in their access and coordination of these resources: 

• HCA Healthcare activated its emergency response taskforce based in Nashville to help position resources across the Southeast, ensuring hospitals in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina had extra generators, flood mitigation tools, water, and fuel so HCA’s providers could continue caring for patients before, during, and after the storm. 
• Lifepoint Health quickly put resources in place to support rural hospitals in Western North Carolina and Florida that were in the storm’s path, providing the first line of defense for their colleagues on the ground. 
• Universal Health Services’ (UHS) Manatee Memorial Hospital in Florida coordinated with local and state governments to quickly install three Tiger Dams to protect the hospital from the anticipated storm surge so patient care remained uninterrupted. 

Caring for the Caregivers and their Communities. After the storm, hospitals made sure employees – from frontline health care heroes to back office administrative staff – had the support they needed as they got back up on their feet: 

• HCA flew in over 400 nurses and 40 physicians from sister facilities to support providers at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, as patient volume tripled – ensuring these caregivers could also check in on family and loved ones affected by the storm. Additionally, HCA provided over 1,000 employees impacted by the storms over $1 million in emergency financial assistance from their HCA Hope Fund, and set up minimarts across its Mission Health hospitals, providing colleagues, patients, and the community with free food, infant formula, water, and toiletries, along with shelter, showers, and laundry. 
• Community Health Systems put their CHS CARES Fund to work, providing peace of mind to employees in need of financial assistance.  
• While gas stations were out of fuel in Florida following Hurricane Milton, UHS dispensed over 8,000 gallons of fuel for staff to ensure uninterrupted care for their patients. 
• Lifepoint delivered 2,800 boxes of food across Western North Carolina as it activated its Lifecare fund, ensuring staff had a financial safety net in place as they navigated their recovery efforts. 

What Comes Next. With recovery efforts underway, FAH member hospitals are not just providing care – they’re helping rebuild communities alongside their neighbors in towns like Vidalia, GA; Asheville, NC; Saint Petersburg, FL; and so many more.  

Yet, even as our tax-paying hospitals invest directly in the communities they serve and go above and beyond the call to deliver care, it is important to remember that they are not eligible to receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As Congress considers its response to this disaster, ensuring that all community hospitals and their frontline workers have the resources needed to provide essential care and services must be paramount. 

Whether it is a hurricane, wildfire, sick child in the middle of the night, or a lab result prompting immediate treatment, FAH member hospitals care for patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Their service and dedication to providing around-the-clock care should be recognized as Congress considers disaster relief and preparedness.