Medical Center in Galveston Faces $710 Million in Ike Damage
The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston faces $710 million in building damage, ruined equipment, revenue losses, and cleanup and evacuation costs because of Hurricane Ike, and officials expect a "significant" number of layoffs at the 12,000-person facility, the Houston Chronicle reports. Insurance will cover only $100 million of the damage, which far surpasses that at Tulane after Hurricane Katrina. The damage includes campus buildings that took on as much as 8 feet of water and the destruction of the hospital's kitchen, blood bank, and radiology department.
UTMB, the state's oldest medical school, has lobbied FEMA for more funds and has also turned to state lawmakers for help.
Elsewhere, Rice University in Houston sustained $3 million in damage, the Thresher reports. Ike damaged about two thirds of the buildings and one third of the trees on campus, but officials say most of the building damage was minimal, such as wet carpet and broken windows.
Tags: hurricanes | University of Texas | natural disasters
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Reader Comments
Texas Inmates
My son is in the Hustville Unit and has a serous medical condition and his surgery been postponed two times becaquse there is no place for him to go. This is a "medical
Katrina". Nobody prepared for a hurricain and now there are
hundreds of inmates that need medical attention and are not getting any.
State Responsibility
UTMB has a long history of providing health care to the poor. In a civilized society, this is an unavoidable, morale, humane, responsibility of the taxpayers. There must be a better way long range way to deal with the economic challenges facing Texas and especially Galveston, than to devastate the living wages of over 4,000 workers in this community. This "solution" is irresponsibility and an galrign example of a misapplied business model at its worst.
UTMB Layoffs held off until after election
UTMB will lay off 4,400 employees, many of whom have just lost their homes in the hurricane but they have petitioned the state for just enough funding to keep employees until after the November 4th elections.
I actually agree that UTMB should relocate their operations off the island where they will be able to thrive and have to increase the quality of patient care in order to compete with other Clear Lake area hospitals and the medical center. But they should be honest about the layoffs and let people know who will be kept for the recovery & relocation period and who needs to start looking for a job.
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