Puerto Rico tries to shore up hospitals in remote towns
Alfredo Tirado, left, and Julian Trevino were among a group of doctors from Florida Hospital in Orlando who are in Puerto Rico to help with medical needs after Hurricane Maria.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Two weeks after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, hospitals are still struggling, and many, like the one in the remote mountain town of Jayuya, are without electricity and communications, reliant on generators and low on vital medications.
Police in Juyaya, Puerto Rico, distribute food and water that was brought by a medical team from Florida.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)The mountain town of Juyaya, Puerto Rico, is one of the most remote on the island. Help after Hurrican Maria was slow to arrive due to roads being blocked by landslides and fallen trees.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Diabetic Brunilda Sovilaro, 50, was found on the floor of her home, covered in insects, unable to walk, disoriented and refusing to leave. A volunteer doctor from Florida persuaded her to go to the hospital in Jayuya, Puerto Rico.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Luis Hernandez, center, gets help from Sergio Rivera filling drums with spring water for washing in Jayuya, Puerto Rico.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Dr. Julian Trevino, a volunteer from Florida Hospital in Orlando, checks on Hilberto Torres Hernandez, 62, a retired mechanic. Torres had been helping a neighbor repair her car after Hurricane Maria when it fell and struck his head.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)People wait in line for hours to fill their cars and gas cans in Jayuya, Puerto Rico. The only power supply in town comes from private generators that run on gas.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)In the mountain town of Juyaya, Puerto Rico, children watch as a U.S. Army helicopter transports a team of doctors who have come to assess the medical needs of the local hospital and residents.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)A U.S. Army helicopter carrying a team of medical doctors from Florida arrives at the Jayuya, Puerto Rico, high school football field while horses roam on the track.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)