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Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | September 02, 2017
Hurricane Harvey hit eastern Texas on August 17, destroying thousands of homes and displacing over 30,000 people.
In the span of four days, many areas sustained more than 40 inches of rain.
Around 12 hospitals remained closed as of Wednesday in southeastern Texas, and several hospitals in Houston were under threat of flooding from nearby reservoirs,
according to an NPR article.
However, some of the hospitals that were evacuated have reopened and others are restoring services that were temporarily suspended. Many hospitals didn't have to close at all.
Health care organization have started to help with relief support. Vizient Inc. announced on Thursday that it is donating over $1 million to help hospital workers in southern Texas and Louisiana who were impacted by the hurricane.
“We have several member hospitals in South Texas and Louisiana that have been hit hard by this storm,” Curt Nonomaque, president and CEO, of Vizient, said in a statement. “Several even had to evacuate patients and close some facilities. We wanted to mobilize as quickly as possible to give as much help as we could.”
The company offered to donate three dollars for every dollar an employee donated through September 30. The employees raised over $150,000 in only 72 hours, which Vizient matched with an additional $1 million.
McKesson Corporation and the McKesson Foundation announced on Friday a donation of more than $300,000 to Direct Relief and World Vision. It will be used to provide disaster response to those affected by the hurricane in Houston.
McKesson runs operations in the area including warehouses in Conroe and Houston. The company prepared for the hurricane and its aftermath by placing additional employees at its neighboring facilities in anticipation of customer orders being shifted.
McKesson also stocked extra inventory of key medications that are usually in short supply during a crisis at the Texas warehouses and neighboring facilities.
Individuals looking to pitch in can do their part by
donating to the THA Hospital Employee Assistance Fund. It will provide financial assistance to hospital employees located in one of the 29 FEMA-designated disaster areas.
