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Puerto Rico
COVID-19 Response
Public Health | 2021
What was the COVID-19 situation in Puerto Rico in 2020-21?
COVID-19 exposed the harsh realities of Puerto Rico’s overwhelmed healthcare infrastructure that left many residents without access to life-saving care.
The island experienced shortages in hospital beds, ventilators, and essential medical resources. This was further exacerbated by an exodus of local physicians from the island to the mainland U.S. after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which delayed the recovery of patients in local hospitals and urgent care facilities.
Remote areas of the island, such as Loíza, Comerío, and Ponce, which were hit hard by Hurricane Maria and remain geographically vulnerable to disaster, were particularly affected amid this scarcity of crucial medical resources.
How did CORE provide COVID-19 relief in Puerto Rico?
In 2021, CORE partnered with local governments and institutions in Puerto Rico to provide critical support and build capacity for life-saving medical resources in the hardest hit communities of Loíza, Comerío, and Ponce, along with other underserved rural areas.
With our partners and local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), CORE provided direct access to vaccines, testing, and vital medical relief by deploying mobile units to reach those highly impacted by the pandemic.
9,000
vaccines administered
to populations that otherwise would not have been reached.
