HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra declares public health emergency for South Carolina and Tennessee after Hurricane Helene

ASPR medical teams boosting health care services in North Carolina in aftermath of storm

Today, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a Public Health Emergency (PHE) for South Carolina and Tennessee to address the health impacts of Hurricane Helene. This follows recent announcements of PHE declarations for Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

“We will do all we can to help officials in South Carolina and Tennessee respond to the health impacts of Hurricane Helene,” said Secretary Becerra. “We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as with our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support.”

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has deployed approximately 200 personnel. These experts include Health Care Situational Assessment Teams which are working with state and local officials to assess the storm’s impacts to hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers, and other health care facilities.

ASPR’s Health and Medical Task Forces and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) from the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) have begun to provide medical care in North Carolina. NDMS teams travel with federal medical equipment and supplies. As of today, HHS has deployed approximately 29 trucks – 192.5 tons – of equipment and supplies for NDMS teams’ use in providing patient care in affected areas. In addition, subject matter experts from NDMS’ Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team have been activated to provide expertise in impacted areas.

"Hundreds of dedicated medical professionals from ASPR are engaged in the disaster response to help citizens affected by Hurricane Helene,” said Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell “We will do everything we can to support the states as they work to bring the local health care infrastructure back to normal operations." 

ASPR will continue to work with federal, state, and local partners to prioritize medical assistance to other areas affected by Hurricane Helene. Additional NDMS teams stand ready to support medical missions in hard hit areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.  After the Health Care Situational Assessment Teams completed assessments in Florida the state did not request federal public health or medical assistance.

The PHE declarations followed President Biden’s emergency declarations for Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. PHE declarations give the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

HHS agencies are using every possible means to assist impacted state health departments and healthcare facilities and will remain engaged until each state determines federal public health and medical assistance is no longer needed. HHS has already taken the following proactive measures to help support the needs of the region:

• The HHS emPOWER program, is available to identify the number of Medicare beneficiaries in affected zips codes who rely on electricity-dependent durable medical equipment and certain healthcare services, such as dialysis, oxygen tank, or home health, to help anticipate, plan for, and respond to the needs of at-risk citizens in potentially impacted areas.
• The HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers free crisis counseling through the Disaster Distress Helpline. This toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service is available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters. To connect with a trained counselor, call or text 1-800-985-5990. Spanish speakers can press “2” for bilingual support. Callers also can connect with counselors in more than 100 other languages via third-party interpretation services by indicating their preferred language to the responding counselor.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have many website health and safety materials available, including storm safety, food safety, and power outage safety information. CDC/ATSDR has shared vital health and safety messaging and communication materials with public health officials in impacted states.
• CDC/ATSDR also worked with GasStationTV to play a CO poisoning and generator safety Public Service Announcement at gas stations in the affected areas in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. CDC/ATSDR is assessing if further support is needed.
• HHS has waived sanctions and penalties for violations of certain provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule against hospitals in the emergency areas. The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued bulletins explaining how limited waivers apply and the duration.

In declaring the public health emergency and authorizing flexibilities for CMS providers, suppliers, and beneficiaries, Secretary Becerra acted within his authority under the Public Health Service Act and Social Security Act. These actions and flexibilities are retroactive to September 26, 2024.