Ravaged Puerto Rico scrambles to get health care back on track
Many people are turned away because of significant shortages of fuel, water
“We are doing as much as we can and as quickly as we can. But we do recognize that for people in need, it will never be fast enough.”
Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
Puerto Rico’s health care system is being pushed to its limits in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria as hospitals and clinics grapple with crippling losses of power, fuel and medical supplies.
Residents and aid workers have described a battered island struggling with significant fuel and power shortages, making it difficult for health care facilities to meet the needs of the sick and elderly. Much of the island’s communications also are down, they say, compounding the crisis.
“If you’re someone who is in need of emergency medical care or urgent medical care, it’s a very difficult situation,” said Garrett Ingoglia, vice president of emergency response of AmeriCares, a relief organization that sent a team to Puerto Rico in recent days. “People are being turned away from health facilities. There are long waits. Or it’s just very difficult to get to health facilities because of debris or damage or lack of fuel.”
Particularly vulnerable are patients who rely on refrigerated medications such as insulin or patients who rely on treatments multiple times a week, such as
those on dialysis.
“Every day, in some clinic, we run out of diesel and have to stop treatments,” said Bob Loeper, head of disaster response teams at Fresenius Medical Care, whose 28 clinics normally provide dialysis to 4,000 of the 6,000 dialysis patients in the territory. “Or we run out of water and have to stop and wait for the water truck.”
Dialysis machines filter toxins and remove excess water from the body in patients with kidney failure, said Lisandro Montalvo, the medical director for Fresenius Medical Care in Puerto Rico. “If the patients are not dialyzed adequately, they will build up toxic substances and accumulate fluid that can end up in the lungs and lead to respiratory failure and other complications,” he said.
Lack of gas is also an issue, especially for clinic staff, he added. The governor set a nightly curfew, so if staff run low on gas, they must wait hours in line during the day for a refill, which prevents them from coming to work and slows things frther.
On Thursday, the Trump administration temporarily waived shipping restrictions for Puerto Rico at the request of its governor and after criticism from members of Congress. The waiver lifts the Jones Act, which does not allow foreign vessels to pick up and deliver fuel between U.S. ports.
“We are doing as much as we can and as quickly as we can,” Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec told USA TODAY. “But we do recognize that for people in need, it will never be fast enough.”
“Every day, in some clinic, we run out of diesel and have to stop treatments. Or we run out of water and have to stop and wait for the water truck.”
Bob Loeper, head of the disaster response team at Fresenius Medical Care, whose 28 clinics normally provide dialysis to 4,000 of the 6,000 dialysis patients in the territory.