Hurricane Michael forces 5 Florida hospitals to shut down

Hurricane Michael forced some Florida hospitals to close entirely, and others to evacuate their patients.

Here are four things to know:

1. The hurricane caused five hospitals, 15 assisted-living facilities and five nursing homes to shut down, according to The Wall Street Journal.

2. The storm forced other Florida hospitals to evacuate patients. Panama City, Fla.-based Bay Area Medical Sacred Heart began evacuating its 200 patients Oct. 11 after the storm's winds blew out the hospital's windows and caused a section of the roof above the hospital's materials management building to collapse.

"We have significant damage to the hospital," a hospital spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal. The hospital's emergency room remains open.

3. Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center in Panama City, owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, began evacuating patients Oct. 11 and was relying on generators for power. The hospital's patients were transferred to other HCA facilities in the area. The hospital's emergency room remains open.

4. In Georgia, Hurricane Michael left about 15 nursing homes and 20 hospitals running on generators. The Georgia Department of Health was conducting preliminary damage assessments Oct. 11, according to the report.

Access the full Wall Street Journal article here.

More articles on patient flow:

HCA closes freestanding ER in Texas
California hospital to reopen Oct. 15 after striking deal with Adventist
Connecticut hospital closes hospice program

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