Irma forced evacuation of 30 hospitals in Florida before is was downgraded to a tropical storm and left the state, according to an article on the Medscape website.
At least 278 assisted living facilities, 61 nursing home, and some 60 other healthcare facilities evacuated some or all of their patients.
The number could go up even without Irma's presence. Any facility in a power outage zone that switched to a backup electric generator is vulnerable to a fuel shortage, or a mechanical breakdown, the article said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense have started to evacuate patients on dialysis by air from St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Records indicate that 130 Americans in St Thomas are on dialysis.
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