N.C. Sending Mobile Hospital Components to Marathon Key | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    RALEIGH     The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is sending a mobile, five-bed emergency department, a six-bed in-patient ward and diagnostic equipment to Florida's Marathon Key after Hurricane Irma heavily damaged a 25-bed hospital.

    The N.C. Office of Emergency Medical Services, part of DHHS, put the equipment and staff on the road today. When they arrive, they will set up and train local healthcare professionals in use of the facility. A team from the Mississippi Department of Health will also assist with setup and training. The facility includes a laboratory, central supply, generators and an X-ray. Local medical personnel will staff the units.

    The portable hospital components are being supplied in response to a request from Florida Emergency Management officials to North Carolina Emergency Management.

    "This equipment helped provide critical health care in North Carolina following Hurricane Matthew, and we're pleased to be able to use it now to help people with immediate needs in Florida," Governor Roy Cooper said.

    The larger components and array of support equipment includes air-conditioned insulated tents and equipment to augment the emergency department and in-patient functions.

    "There are two major benefits from putting a temporary facility like this in the place of a destroyed or damaged hospital," said Tom Mitchell, North Carolina Chief of Emergency Medical Services. "It will provide a place for treatment and care for people in the area and also keeps medical professionals employed in the community while the medical facility is repaired or rebuilt."

    The equipment is part of a larger cache of equipment that can provide a wide range of medical services after a major disaster. North Carolina has another portable emergency department that is part of the mobile disaster hospital which will remain in the state, as well as the assets and resources across the eight State Medical Assistance Teams. Those teams are supported by major healthcare organizations, EMS, emergency management and public health agencies across the state. All remain on standby should any needs arise during this hurricane season or at other times.

    Parts of the mobile disaster hospital were deployed in 2005 to south Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, to Louisville, Miss., in 2014, after a tornado heavily damaged that community's hospital and to Kinston, N.C., in 2016, when flooding from Hurricane Matthew prevented highway access for some areas to the local hospital.

      NC Department of Health and Human Services

  • 2001 Mail Service Center
  • Raleigh, NC 27699-2001
  • news@dhhs.nc.gov(919) 855-4840

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Ask Not What The Military Can Do For You. Ask What You Can Do For The Military. North Carolina Health, Body & Soul, Health and Fitness Sit-Rep Negative - Break Squelch Twice


HbAD0

Latest Health and Fitness

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
Part of ongoing effort to raise awareness and combat rising congenital syphilis cases
Recognition affirms ECU Health’s commitment to providing highly-reliable, human-centered care
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new Statewide Peer Warmline on Feb. 20, 2024. The new Peer Warmline will work in tandem with the North Carolina 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by giving callers the option to speak with a Peer Support Specialist.
A subsidiary of one of the largest health insurance agencies in the U.S. was hit by a cyberattack earlier this week from what it believes is a foreign “nation-state” actor, crippling many pharmacies’ ability to process prescriptions across the country.
The John Locke Foundation is supporting a New Bern eye surgeon's legal fight against North Carolina's certificate-of-need restrictions on healthcare providers.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the following statement on the Trails Carolina investigation:
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a draft of its 2024-25 Olmstead Plan designed to assist people with disabilities to reside in and experience the full benefit of inclusive communities.

HbAD1

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tues., Feb. 20, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $5.5 million into the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program in the UNC School of Medicine, to improve reentry services for the justice-involved population.
As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard.
Controversy surrounds a healthcare provider’s decision to block parents from having access to their children’s prescription records.
Members of the North Carolina Rural Health Association (NCRHA) visited Washington, D.C., on Feb. 14, 2024, to meet with elected officials and advocate for policies to improve access to care in rural areas.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the request for proposal to hire the organization that will help manage the Children and Families Specialty Plan.
As part of its commitment to improve the health and well-being of North Carolina children and families, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the launch of its Child Behavioral Health dashboard.
February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is emphasizing the importance of children's dental hygiene to overall health and well-being.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top