October 8, 2024- Hospitals and health facilities across Florida are preparing to evacuate or suspending operations ahead of Hurricane Milton, according to ABC News. Milton is currently a category 4 hurricane with landfall expected in Florida on Wednesday night, October 9. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for long-term care facilities and hospitals in three evacuation zones located on the west central Florida coast. The order affects six hospitals, 25 nursing homes, and 44 assisted living facilities, which totals to about 6,600 patients.
Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey initiated evacuation procedures Monday morning and is not accepting new patients, according to a statement from BayCare, the hospital’s parent network. BayCare stated that while all of its other hospitals are open as of Monday afternoon, elective procedures for non-urgent procedures have been canceled for Wednesday, Oct. 9, with a decision for procedures on Thursday, Oct. 11, to come shortly. All BayCare ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, laboratories, urgent care facilities and behavioral health outpatient sites will also be closed Wednesday and Thursday, according to the BayCare statement and ABC News.