HURRICANES IRMA & MARIA
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uring the height of the monster storms Irma and Maria, staff at the eight large hospitals of the VA Sunshine Healthcare System in Florida and Puerto Rico provided around-the-clock support to inpatients with hundreds of employees sleeping at the hospitals for days on end to ensure everyone was safe.
After the storms, recovery operations began at the hospitals and community clinics and staff also provided care, services and supplies to Veterans and private citizens alike in several hard-hit areas. Mobile medical units, traveling vet centers and teams brought health care and mental services to Veterans where VA clinics and their patients were most impacted, to include devastated Puerto Rico. As partners of the National Disaster Medical System and a Federal Coordinating Center, the Miami and San Juan VA Medical Centers provided support for evacuees from the Caribbean. Through it all, VA employees at every facility manned Emergency Operations Centers to ensure the consistent flow of information and efficient coordination of logistics during the worst hurricane season on record.
Answering the Call