Hospitals Face Shutdown Threats from Extreme Weather Events

Title: Thousands of Hospitals at Risk from Extreme Weather Events; Experts Urge Adaptation
By Kaitlin Sullivan
Summary:
In August 2023, Hurricane Idalia, a Category 4 storm, forced the evacuation and shutdown of hospitals and emergency rooms along Florida’s Gulf Coast due to anticipated flooding. Similar incidents occurred in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, where historic rainfall and torrential downpours caused power outages and evacuations. These events highlight a growing trend of hospital closures linked to human-driven climate change, which has increased hospital damage risk by 41% from 1990 to 2020, according to a report by XDI.
Globally, thousands of healthcare facilities are increasingly vulnerable to climate change. The UN Population Fund reported that nearly 1,500 hospitals in Latin America and the Caribbean are in low-lying areas prone to storms and flooding. In the U.S., hundreds of hospitals, particularly along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, are at risk from hurricanes. Floods and landslides have also shut down healthcare facilities in Thailand and Pakistan.
By the end of the century, one in 12 hospitals worldwide could face shutdowns due to extreme weather, with regions like South Asia being particularly vulnerable. Additionally, climate change is expected to exacerbate health issues, increasing the demand for medical care. Experts recommend that hospitals start adapting their infrastructure and operations to become more resilient. Examples include Vietnamese hospitals implementing water catchment systems to address water shortages.
As extreme weather and rising temperatures continue to strain healthcare infrastructure, it is critical for global hospital leadership to develop climate resilience plans to ensure the continued delivery of care.
This article originally appeared on Yale Climate Connections and is part of the Covering Climate Now collaboration.