Free hospital care for Haitians cripples facility
The constant stream of Haiti earthquake victims that poured into Miami-Dade emergency rooms has stopped.
Officials said Wednesday they could take in no more and victims needing medical care are being flown to hospitals in Tampa and Orlando, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
South Florida hospitals were the scenes of many miracles since the earthquake rocked Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12. Nearly 400 survivors, many found under mountains of rubble, were airlifted to local hospitals for treatment.
Broken bones were mended and life-saving surgeries were needed inmost cases.
And as the survivors recovered, they told tales of disaster, carnage and hope.
Butthe hospitals said all of the free care they administered to help inrelief efforts was crippling their ability to provide essentialservices to local people. Jackson Memorial Hospital, which saw the bulkof the patients, was running a significant loss, officials said.
Aslocal hospitals request federal financial relief, local doctors andnurses may still be called upon to treat the critically injured in thecoming weeks.