Weathering The Storm: Lessons Learned from The Healthcare Response to Hurricane Helene, Part 3 - WNC Health Policy Podcast Ep. 19

Image Credit: NCDOTcommunications, licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution 2.0 Generic license.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, healthcare professionals across Western North Carolina (WNC) faced a unique set of challenges—from infrastructure disruptions to emergency care delivery in rural and resource-limited settings. Their experiences offer valuable insight into how healthcare systems can respond to and recover from natural disasters, particularly in regions like WNC where geographic and socioeconomic factors compound the complexity of emergency response.

This ongoing study, led in partnership with the North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) and funded by the North Carolina Collaboratory, aims to document and analyze the lessons learned by healthcare providers during and after the storm. By focusing on the lived experiences of frontline professionals, the research seeks to inform future disaster preparedness and response strategies in rural healthcare systems.

In Part 3 of our podcast series, researchers Alex Mitchell and Soni Pitts share the findings from the study. Hear from the research team about what worked, what didn’t, and the practical recommendations health care leaders say are needed to strengthen Western North Carolina’s disaster preparedness moving forward.

Skim the highlights below, or listen to the podcast to hear the full story.

• Regional strengths that emerged from WNC’s healthcare response

  • Exceptional community, organizational and grassroots collaboration and mutual aid

  • Strong cross-sector collaborations that bridged the gap until formal government assistance could arrive

  • Rapid operational innovations enabling continuity of patient care, support for impacted workforce and effective inter- and intra-organizational response

• Major challenges identified

  • Widespread lack of preparedness for an “all systems down” event

  • Severe and widespread communication failures and infrastructure destruction

  • Shortages of critical supplies, including IV solutions, prescription medications, and water for basic hygienic needs

  • Workforce shortages and burnout

  • Regulatory and policy barriers that challenged access to prescriptions, billing/reimbursement processes, and external workforce support

  • Mental health challenges among both healthcare workforce and patients

  • Broad challenges with social drivers of health, including access to housing, water, food, and transportation

  • Regional economic impact from a dramatically reduction in expected county- and state-level tax base

• Recommendations for future preparedness and resilience of our health systems

  • Expanding and sustainably funding regular “blue sky” planning, including extreme “all systems down“ scenarios

  • Strengthening communication infrastructure, including options like satellite phones and internet that don’t rely on the local grid

  • Building and maintaining reserves of essential supplies, including IV solutions, medications, water, food, and fuel

  • Expanding workforce capacity and providing mental health supports to reduce burnout and over-reliance on disaster-impacted workers

  • Building in policy and regulatory flexibility during emergencies to allow for agile responses to unpredictable conditions

  • Protecting Medicaid and Medicaid expansion to support vulnerable populations experiencing housing loss, trauma, or chronic disease disruptions

  • Investing in and leveraging Community Health Workers (CHWs) for care/safety net program navigation and community-specific response

  • Strengthening community-level networks and partnerships before the next disaster strikes

  • Disaster-informed infrastructure planning for rural, mountainous areas that suffered catastrophic losses

Listen via the audio bar above, or via Apple Podcasts or Spotify

About the WNC Health Policy Podcast: In each installment, we speak about different public health strategies for improving health and well-being in Western North Carolina (WNC). The WNC HPl is a collaboration between the NC Center for Health & Wellness at UNCA and MAHEC, with generous support from the Dogwood Health Trust.

Individual opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this podcast are those of the author(s)/interviewee(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the WNC Health Policy Initiative or its host institutions of the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNCA), Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) or our funders.

Transcript

AR: Andrew Rainey (WNC HPI)

AM: Alex Mitchell

SP: Soni Pitts

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