Puerto Rico Children's Hospital Is Running Out of Food, and the Trump Administration Is Nowhere in Sight
This is one of the most desperate sets of tweets I have ever seen by a hospital physician. Puerto Rico’s San Jorge children’s hospital in downtown San Juan ran out of fuel for its generators. With no electricity and back power about to run out because fuel was running out, a lead doctor at San Jorge Hospital desperately Tweeted for help then got back to the task of saving the most vulnerable babies and children. At the very same time, back in Washington DC, Senate Republicans were meeting to push Trumpcare legislation to slash the funds for health care for women and children. Trump was Tweeting them on because it would free up money for tax cuts for billionaires, including himself, who finance and control the Republican party. The Navy hospital ship Comfort, tasked with providing disaster assistance to the Caribbean, remains unstaffed and docked in port at Norfolk, Virginia while San Jorge doctors and staff are desperately trying to save children’s lives in San Juan.
The story starts Saturday September 23 with a request by Dr Felix Seda for baby formula.
We need baby formula asap. @RepJenniffer @ricardorossello @BeatrizRossello https://t.co/G8wuxSwE1e
— Felix Seda (@otojav) September 23, 2017
Yesterday, Sunday, he requested food for patients and hospital employees and help for their homeless children.
San Jorge Children's Hospital is fully operational. We need food for our patient mothers and employees.
— Felix Seda (@otojav) September 24, 2017
Several employees at San Jorge Children's Hospital are homeless and still working, leaving their children's at local refuge.
— Felix Seda (@otojav) September 24, 2017
We need help...
Today the desperate race to save lives began as fuel ran out.
Emergency. Out of diesel, We Need HELD. 85 children.!!!! Need to evacuate if not fixed.
— Felix Seda (@otojav) September 25, 2017Hospital going out electricity,, Please HELP Children's are going to DIE.
— Felix Seda (@otojav) September 25, 2017
Thank God the valiant hospital staff moved all of the most vulnerable children to safety.
Children's are safe, critical ones moved to other hospitals. Working to restore power.
— Felix Seda (@otojav) September 25, 2017
Thank you Dr Seda. Last year my wife was trying to keep from slipping and sliding on the slick floor while doing emergency surgery in her rural hospital in North Carolina. Her hospital didn’t have enough emergency power during hurricane Matthew to run the air conditioning. Fortunately, mother and baby did well despite the hurricane. All the doctors and hospital workers who serve their communities and save lives in times like these are heroes. Thank you.
Power is Back at San Jorge Children's Hospital.
— Felix Seda (@otojav) September 25, 2017
But I have nothing but contempt for the Republican congress and Donald Trump who are busy trying to strip health care from women and children while ignoring the cries for help from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. San Juan needs the USNS Comfort now and we need military logistics to distribute fuel to critical facilities starting with the San Jorge Children’s hospital. This is inexcusable.
Donald Trump, commander in chief, is AWOL.
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Author’s note:
There is a hospital named Puerto Rico Children’s Hospital In Bayamon, PR. www.facebook.com/…
St. George’s is a private hospital in San Juan while the Puerto Rico Children’s Hospital is a public hospital in a suburb of San Juan. Both hospitals can use all the support they can get. I have left the title the same but I adjusted the capitalization for accuracy. Because the mainland U.S. is the target audience for this post the title needs to be descriptive. I only discovered this issue when I started checking for donations pages.
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