NY hospital and physician groups gear up to help Puerto Rico

Medical and humanitarian aid for Puerto Rico is being organized on Long Island by major health centers and a statewide group of physicians, with scores of doctors and nurses volunteering to go to the storm-devastated U.S. territory.

The Northwell Health system, Stony Brook University and the Medical Society of the State of New York also are planning to help by supplying medicine, equipment and monetary aid, officials with the organizations said Monday.

At least 100 medical personnel from Northwell Health and two dozen from SBU have volunteered to go to Puerto Rico, which Hurricane Maria hit Sept. 20 with 155 mph winds — Category 4 force. No departure date has been set.

“We are waiting for directions from our counterparts in Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Charles Rothberg, president of the Medical Society of the State of New York, referring to the medical society in San Juan. “There are a lot of physicians here who want to help, but we don’t want people going there without coordination.” New York’s medical society is headquartered in Westbury.

In the meantime, Rothberg said, he is appealing to physicians in the 30,000-member state medical society to donate money to help Puerto Rican doctors whose medical practices were damaged.

“The island has been overcome with loss of life and lack of available medical services due to flooding, isolation and downed communication lines,” said Rothberg, an ophthalmologist in Patchogue.

Both the Stony Brook School of Medicine and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell are extending help to Puerto Rican medical students by offering placement in the schools of medicine at SBU and Hofstra University, respectively. Enrollment here will help students stay up-to-date in their studies, officials said.

Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky, Stony Brook’s senior vice president of health sciences and dean of the medical school, announced that the Greater New York Hospital Association has teamed up with the Healthcare Association of New York State to establish the New York Healthcare Puerto Rico Relief Fund.

The relief fund is designed to assist Puerto Rican hospitals and health care workers, said Kaushansky, who also is chairman of the Greater New York Hospital Association’s board of directors.

In addition, the two hospital associations are coordinating relief efforts to ensure the safety of doctors and nurses who volunteer to help Puerto Rican medical personnel.

Stony Brook’s 24-person team will include “at least four physicians — mostly emergency medicine — eight nurses [and] eight paramedics,” among other health care professionals, Kaushansky said. Supplies to be sent include “medicines, health care equipment and disposables such as sutures, endotracheal tubes [and] catheters,” he said.

Northwell vice president Terry Lynam said his institution’s 100-member corps of volunteers is awaiting word from the Greater New York Hospital Association and the Healthcare Association of New York State before departure.

A Northwell team relieved doctors and nurses in Houston after Hurricane Harvey struck in August.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story gave an incorrect number for the membership of the Medical Society of the State Of New York.