The impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico's health system: post-disaster perceptions and experiences of health care providers and administrators.

ABSTRACT:

Background

After its landfall in Puerto Rico in 2017, Hurricane Maria caused the longest blackout in United States history, producing cascading effects on a health care system that had already been weakened by decades of public sector austerity and neoliberal health reforms. This article addresses how health care professionals and administrators experienced the health care system's collapse and the strategies used by them to meet their communities' health needs.

Methods

Data were collected between September 2018 and February 2020. Ethnographic observations in health care facilities and semi-structured qualitative interviews with representatives of the health care system were conducted. This paper focuses on data from interviews with health care providers (n = 10) and adminis

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Madera SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8577961 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature