Impacts of Natural Disasters on Healthcare: Hurricane Katrina - Essay Example

"Impacts of Natural Disasters on Healthcare: Hurricane Katrina" is a great example of a paper on depression. The impacts of Hurricanes stem from personal i.e. mental health care, general i.e. medications, and public i.e. public health. The effect on public health care is related to flooding and extensive damage to natural water. This compromises the safety of drinking water thereby creating threats to public health. Water contamination and shortage downplay the integrity of health care organizations in offering credible healthcare services.

Additionally, such events will downplay any efforts geared towards the prevention of communicable diseases. This implies that health care organizations have to enact effective and expensive preventive measures (The Joint Commission, 2012). Hurricanes destroy the physical infrastructure of the healthcare industry, implying that the administrators have an uphill task of investing resources to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure.  The occurrences of such disasters enhance the prevalence of poverty and the eventual rise in the number of uninsured people.

Loss of jobs as a result of such disasters leads to detachment from the insurance coverage that employers offer. Those areas that face a shortage in healthcare personnel before such events succumb to adverse impacts in the event of the occurrence of such events. The mental impacts of hurricanes arise from the psychological stress and trauma emanating from death, destruction of properties, and separation of families among others. The condition of the occurrence of these events delays their access to medication; thus, aggravating their health conditions.

Meeting the medical needs of the displaced persons will pose enhanced logistical and financial challenges to health care organizations. Even more traumatizing is the fact that the medical records and prescriptions of the victims will be destroyed. According to Institute for Healthcare Improvement, improving such a situation would require comprehensive teamwork and a framework strategically formed to effect changes.