HHS Emergency Response for Hurricanes Helene and Milton

The recent hurricanes have sent the Department of Health and Human Services into emergency response mode as the agency seeks to ensure the storms have minimal impact on health care delivery. Since Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend of Florida on September 26th, HHS has declared public health emergencies across Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia in response to the hurricane. The agency was also taking steps to fix holes in the medical supply chain after damage to a North Carolina plant that supplies more than half of the nation's IV fluids. The agency's response efforts ramped up further after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida last Wednesday. Public health emergency declarations allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response more flexibility to meet the health care needs of the impacted population. They also make it easier to deploy federal health care workers to support local needs.