Shuttered Hospital Stands As A Symbol For Puerto Rico’s Struggles To Recover 18 Months After Hurricane
Residents of the island of Vieques have to travel to the big island to get care because Hurricane Maria made their hospital unusable. The facility is just one of many services in the area that is still unable to rebuild because disaster funding has stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, House Democrats, trying to break the stalemate, want to move forward with their own package.
The New York Times:
Hunger And An ‘Abandoned’ Hospital: Puerto Rico Waits As Washington Bickers
A newborn’s cries rarely echo anymore though the hallways of what passes as a hospital on the ravaged island of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico. “We miss it,” said Dennisse Bermúdez Colón, a nurse. Hurricane Maria closed the island’s only labor and delivery room, forcing expectant mothers to travel, usually by sea, to the big island eight miles away to have their babies. Just a few emergency births have taken place in an old storm shelter converted into a provisional clinic. (Mazzei, 4/7)
Politico:
House Dems Look To End Months-Old Stalemate Over Disaster Funds
With a disaster relief bill deadlocked in the Senate, House Democrats are prepared to move ahead with their own package that includes billions of dollars in aid for the rain-swollen Midwest. The Democrats’ revised bill would add $2.5 billion for heartland states reeling from catastrophic floods, an overture to Republicans after months of partisan bickering. (Ferris and Bresnahan, 4/7)