Florida hospital without running water faces crisis after Hurricane Ian

Workers and patients said the facility's running water went out after Hurricane Ian hit. High-risk patients are being evacuated by ambulance and helicopter.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Hurricane Ian has created a burgeoning biohazard situation in at least one Florida hospital close to where the storm first made landfall.

Staff members at the Health Park Medical Center in Fort Myers told NBC News that the facility's running water went out Wednesday and hasn't yet been restored. If water service isn't back soon, the workers said, they fear disease outbreaks and infections in the wake of the storm.

Patients and nurses alike have been forced to defecate in plastic bags, then store the waste in overflowing biohazard bins, staff members and patients said.

Workers said they can't properly sanitize medical instruments for reuse, and some patients went for more than a dozen hours without drinking any water.

With no running water, hospital staff have had to place plastic bags in toilets at Health Park Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla.Obtained by NBC NewsDetails of the water outage and its consequences were confirmed by four staff members, who all asked not to be identified by name for fear of jeopardizing their employment, as well as three patients.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-hospital-running-water-crisis-hurricane-ian-rcna50270

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