Before the rain even began, we were watching the skies.
Teams across HCA Healthcare had been tracking the movements of a dangerous tropical cyclone that was fast approaching the Southeastern United States. While wind speeds began to grow and torrential rain started to fall, we were already on the move.
More than one-third of HCA Healthcare’s facilities and colleagues were in the projected path of the storm. The activation of emergency operations meant that critical patients were in the process of being relocated out of flood zones. While a handful of hospitals were being evacuated, teams at other facilities were instructed to shelter in place to care for patients as the storm passed.
When Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, it did so with a fury that tore buildings apart and turned streets into rivers. Communities were left in disbelief at the destruction.
Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton struck Florida’s west coast as a Category 3. Roofs were ripped from buildings like paper, trees were uprooted and floods began to rise.
In the chaos that followed, HCA Healthcare resources, including Incident Response Teams, were deployed across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Entire neighborhoods had been cut off from the outside world, city grids were down and lives turned upside down. After all was said and done, Hurricane Helene would go on record as the deadliest storm to strike the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
HCA Healthcare is no stranger to challenges. Our unyielding commitment to the people we serve has kept us going through some of the most difficult national and global disasters. As Helene and Milton raged across five of our divisions, our response was swift, focused and unprecedented. Throughout power outages, destructive winds and deadly flooding,
HCA Healthcare provided uninterrupted care by any means necessary with courage and ingenuity.
In the midst of a disaster, hospitals become more than sites of care. They are beacons of hope. For many of our facilities, the storms left roads impassable and supply chains in jeopardy. Undeterred, our local teams used the resources provided by HCA Healthcare and partnered with local officials, first responders and other partner organizations to meet the needs of all who came in search of help.
It wasn’t easy and there were challenges, but our people did not falter. Colleagues in our facilities, divisions and corporate offices worked around the clock to stretch every resource and make sure that no one was left without care. Local caregivers packed bags and left on foot to reach
HCA Healthcare facilities where they could lend a hand. More than 1,200 colleagues slept at their HCA Healthcare facilities in the first days of the storm. Others from across the country raised their hands and volunteered to travel from far and wide to hard-hit areas where they could relieve the burden.
Our people are the heroes who showed up, and are showing up still. The best of humanity shone through as they held the hands of those in need, and held on to each other with resilience and compassion. We continue to pick up the pieces even now.
This is the story of HCA Healthcare’s response to two consecutive natural disasters unlike any we had seen. This is the story of how our network of colleagues faced something great with a fortitude that was even greater. This is a story of strength, sacrifice, and the unwavering ability to persevere when you know you are never alone.
