Health Centers in Puerto Rico: Operational Status after Hurricane Maria

With devastating force, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 as a category 4 storm, wreaking havoc on the island’s residents and its infrastructure. Six months after the hurricane hit, the island’s health care system is slowly recovering. Community health centers are a critical part of the health care system—20 federally funded health centers provide primary and preventive care services at 93 urban and rural sites across the island. In 2016, health centers in Puerto Rico served 352,172 patients, over one in ten residents, and provided more than 1.5 million patient visits, including over 84,000 oral health visits and over 68,000 visits for mental health and addiction services. Six months after the hurricane, these health centers have seen improvements but still face many challenges.

All health centers in Puerto Rico are now open and providing services, but the lack of power remains a critical problem for some. While improvements have been made in restoring power, approximately 1 in 10 (11%) of the permanent health center sites on the island have limited or no grid power. Three of these health centers have intermittent grid power and rely on generators as a backup source of power, while five remain without grid power and rely solely on generators. An additional health center converted to solar power in lieu of continuing to rely on a generator. Despite these challenges, health centers are providing essential primary care and mental health services to the residents of Puerto Rico as they struggle to recover and rebuild in the wake of the storm. Based on information collected by the Asociacion de Salud Primaria de Puerto Rico, Inc. (ASPPR), the interactive map below provides a snapshot of the operational status of the 93 health center sites as of March 13, 2018.