ORLANDO, Fla. — In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, AdventHealth is ensuring their team members can continue to care for patients across Central Florida by providing much needed fuel to those in hard hit areas.
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The AdventHealth West Florida Division, based in the Tampa Bay region, is supplying more than 25,000 gallons of gas and 10,000 gallons of diesel to support team members with urgent fuel needs across all 14 of its hospital campuses.
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The continuous service throughout the storm would not have been possible without our team members’ dedication—from our clinicians to our facilities crew monitoring back-up generators,” said David Ottati, president and CEO of the AdventHealth West Florida Division. “By providing this fuel, which has come from all across the country, we hope to support our team members as they continue delivering the high-quality, whole person care our patients rely on.”
Several fuel tanker trucks, brought in from out of state, are currently rotating between the hospitals to ensure team members have access to the fuel they need, a news release stated.
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Lines at gas stations were more than a hour long wait in some areas.
Rosemary Tyrkala, a facilities manager at AdventHealth North Pinellas, lost her home during Hurricane Helene and was living temporary housing when Hurricane Milton hit and said the ten gallons of gas she received from her hospital made a huge difference.
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“It’s one less thing to worry about,” Tyrkala said.”It meant that I didn’t need to go and stand in that line for hours to get gas so that I can go to work. I’m sure that’s how it assisted other people, knowing that if they had to get to work or if they had to get to a store for medicines or food or their necessities, that they had some gas in their car to be able to do it.”
As of Sunday, AdventHealth has distributed more than 22,000 gallons of total fuel to team members.
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