Northwell Health medical team deploys to Puerto Rico

The Northwell contingent leaving this afternoon from JFK International Airport is part of a team of 78 New York hospital volunteers heading to the hurricane-raved island. In addition to supplying a team of nurses, physicians, medics, EMTs and other clinicians and administrators to help out with the medical mission, Northwell is donating $750,000 toward the effort, and shipping 60,000 pounds of supplies and personal hygiene products that were donated by the health system's employees.

The donated supplies – everything from cases of water to baby formula, diapers, batteries, toothpaste and cleaning supplies – will be transported on a container ship to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and distributed by MedShare, a humanitarian organization that Northwell Health has worked with in response to numerous natural disasters over the years. The health system had previously donated about 800 boxes of clinical supplies such as surgical masks and catheters as well as pharmaceutical drugs to local hospitals through MedShare's disaster relief program.

Speaking to volunteers on Wednesday who gathered at the health system's corporate headquarters in New Hyde Park for a briefing on the mission, Northwell Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Solazzo said, "This mission is important to us at Northwell. It goes to the core of what we believe in. We are proud and honored to provide this help."

Team leader Randy Howard spoke about the potential difficulties of a mission of this nature, explaining that the volunteers will likely be asked to provide medical support at a federal medical station in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, located on the island's northern coast. Such facilities, located throughout Puerto Rico, are designed to care for up to 250 patients at a time.

"We will be asked to deal with everything from scrapes and bruises to the most acute care that is called for," said Mr. Howard, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army before retiring from the military. "While we don't know exactly where we will be stationed, we will be prepared."

Mary Mahoney, senior director of emergency management at Northwell Health, discussed existing living conditions and what volunteers will face during the mission.

"Aside from the obvious medical difficulties the island's inhabitants are living with on a daily basis, we are also aware of the potential outbreak of infectious diseases there," said Ms. Mahoney. "It won't be easy, but we are well equipped and most concerned about the safety of our team. We've planned very long and very hard for this, knowing that we might be living in a hospital, a shelter or outside. Our team is honored to provide medical care that will help get the people of Puerto Rico back on their feet."

As part of the medical mission initiated by Gov. Cuomo and coordinated by the Greater New York Hospital Association and the state Department of Health, the Northwell volunteers will be joined by colleagues at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York- Presbyterian, Mount Sinai Medical Center and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in Manhattan, and Albany Medical Center.

"Our employees' response to this call for help was extraordinary," said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health. "Just like they do every day in responding to the needs of their patients, our employees demonstrated incredible caring and commitment to helping the people of Puerto Rico recover from one of the worst natural disasters in its history."

About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State's largest health care provider and private employer, with 22 hospitals, over 550 outpatient facilities and nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians. We care for more than two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 62,000 employees – 15,000+ nurses and 3,900 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.

Contact: Michelle Pinto
516-321-6708
[email protected]

SOURCE Northwell Health

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