Healthcare organizations have been challenged by the effects of Hurricane Helene in various ways, and like other industries in WNC, had to pivot, reach out for assistance, and change their focus.

According to Barbara Dillie, President of the Board of Directors at the WNC Medical Managers Association, the overall mental health of the region has taken a beating. Americares, a global health-focused nonprofit organization that responds to various disasters, works with healthcare nonprofits to offer resources, medical supplies, and grants. The organization also works in a mental health capacity, bringing psychologists and counselors to communities experiencing disaster situations.

“They’re sending more than $50,000 worth of Tdap vaccines into urgent care offices so we can offer those to the community, free of charge,” Dillie said. “They’ve brought in free mobile medical clinics, have given $150,000 in grants, and are bringing in mental health support for the community and healthcare workers. I think this is going to be one of the greatest benefits that I can communicate with the Medical Managers Association — to reach out to the folks at Americares.”

Bimonthly WNCMMA meetings shifted focus from discussing general changes, coding, and other topics to determining what the area’s healthcare leaders need, what they have, and to speak about various unknowns in the current state of the industry. 

Urgent care and primary care visits have changed. Patients visiting their healthcare providers for medical attention also want to share their experiences. Many providers have experienced longer appointment times in an effort to engage with their patients, connecting them with any needed resources available to meet their current needs.

Patients have also shifted their own healthcare priorities. During early recovery phases, people delayed well-checks, followups, and other non-urgent medical attention. As many residents have worked physically hard in removing trees, debris, and other cleanup efforts, many will experience exhaustion following periods of high adrenaline, which makes more people susceptible to illness.

“This makes the next phase even more impactful for healthcare,” Dillie said. “Moving into what we call ‘respiratory season’ or flu season, combined with delays and impacts following the hurricane, it’s going to be an even busier season for healthcare.”

Another challenge for the healthcare industry, both in WNC and nationwide, has been the shortage of IV saline bags produced by Baxter in North Cove. Their manufacturing facility was greatly impacted, and as one of the only suppliers of this vital medical equipment, healthcare facilities from hospitals to primary care physicians have had to allocate these resources carefully.

Unemployment rates will also impact the area’s healthcare industry. Those who no longer have jobs may also no longer have health insurance, or experience a gap in coverage, potentially straining finances for providers and their organizations.

Challenges with the clean water supply have initiated many changes for healthcare providers. “Before this happened, if you were to ask someone in healthcare if it’s possible to operate without water, the answer would’ve been an absolute ‘no, we cannot’,” Dillie said. “When there was a need and there was no access to water, the question became ‘what do we have to do to serve patients’.”

Some organizations have imported tanks of potable water for their entire systems, and some are able to use non-potable water for things like flushing toilets. Many have set up hand washing stations for staff and utilized many cases of bottles of water. 

“Unless you are a bigger system like Mission, you don’t have the resources to get big tanker trucks and have potable water flushed through your system,” Dillie said. “For many of our smaller local practices, this is an issue they have every single day.”

The impacts of Helene have shifted staffing needs for the local healthcare industry. With many free mobile medical clinics in temporary locations across the region, Dillie said there are likely more people looking for work than is available, but that dynamic will shift back to a workforce shortage in the coming months.

“Once the mobile clinics move out and patient visits increase for specialty practices and primary care, so will the need for medical assistants and nurse practitioners,” Dillie said.

During 2023 and early 2024, many healthcare organizations have been expanding, with new locations opening across the Western North Carolina region. Novant Health, UNC Health Pardee, Mission Hospital, AdventHealth, and more organizations are opening new facilities to serve the increasing patient demand reflecting tourist and resident populations. Hybrid populations, those with one home in WNC and another elsewhere, may not be spending as much time in the area depending on how severely they were impacted. The decreasing populations also decreases the immediate need for healthcare services in the area.

In the early stages of restoring basic services, additional medical challenges appear. An increase of urinary tract infections, eye infections, and upper respiratory issues come along with the cleanup and clean water challenges many residents are experiencing. As recovery progresses, healthcare leaders are unsure if the growth of recent years will continue, and many moved toward a holding pattern during the late months of 2024.

“I think Western North Carolina will recover, but the impacts are a lot more widespread than we realize right now,” Dillie said. “What we’re doing now is putting a panel together to talk about how chief medical officers have handled the disaster and what challenges they see ahead. That will be part of the WNCMMA conference in December.”

Dillie saw an increase of collaboration between healthcare organizations in the immediate weeks following the storm. Some have put mobile or temporary clinics in place, and some are waiving copays as the cost of immediate visits can be allotted for charity care. 

“Everyone’s looking at possibilities differently, and that’s helping each other,” Dillie said. “That’s less of a competitive nature and more about taking care of what people really need, and that need is only going to be greater as the FEMA and government-based free clinics move out over the next few months. The need for cooperation and collaboration may increase even into 2025. People will remember this, and it will unite Western North Carolina even closer.”