Infrastructures and Health System Rebuilding after Hurricane Maria

Bridget Bojic ’20 Major: Health Policy and Management Lizbeth Santos Cortes ’20 Major: Health Policy and Management Jailene Amari Vazquez ’22 Major: Health Policy and Management and Global Studies Morgan Weiner ’21 Major: Health Policy and Management Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jessica Mulligan, Health Policy & Management Healthcare providers in Puerto Rico creatively improvised emergency solutions to continue delivering care while recovering from Hurricane Maria. In semi-structured interviews, health care providers described the destruction of infrastructure caused by the storm, the slow governmental response, and solutions they implemented to continue working efficiently. Providers described instances of community outreach, networking to obtain supplies, and alternative means of communication which we term ‘emergency infrastructures’ (Ficek 2018). This paper recognizes that the dedication or compromiso of health care workers is critical to the resilience of the healthcare system and hurricane preparedness