How Hurricane Harvey crippled the health system: Already-strained hospitals are overloaded with uninsured patients and shelters are struggling to treat the wounded
More than 32,000 people in Texas have been evacuated to a shelter
Hospitals and shelters are experiencing shortages as they struggle to treat all of the wounded
Uninsured patients are causing worry for medical centers in the long term because they won’t be able to afford proper care
The elderly and mentally ill are some of the victims that are being focused on for treatment because of their conditions
By DANIELLE ZOELLNER
DAILYMAIL.COM31 August 2017
Mass destruction of rainfall, floodwaters and huge waves from Hurricane Harvey left most of southeastern Texas evacuating to higher ground to escape.
But left behind were hospitals strained to treat patients and shelters reaching max capacity as they struggle to treat the wounded.
The damage is far from over.
Many elderly people are suffering from debilitating conditions and most victims are uninsured so they will face hefty health bills.
As Hurricane Harvey moves onto Louisiana, it leaves behind a crippled health system in Texas with medical centers and officials scrambling to fix.
Medical centers handle overwhelming shortages
The storm forced hospitals and medical centers in Houston to cancel surgeries, outpatient programs and even evacuate surgeries.
But that still wasn’t enough to help prevent shortages across the city.
Medical centers have had to reevaluate their treatment of patients as food and supply shortages left them overwhelmed.
This is only expected to get worse as more victims of Hurricane Harvey will continue to grow as the storm dies down.
The uninsured will be among them with an inability to pay for medical procedures that were caused from the damaging hurricane.
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