FORT MYERS, Fla. – Before Hurricane Ian, Premier Mobile Health Services, or PMHS, a free clinic in Fort Myers, Florida, had served over 7,000 patients in 2022 at their physical location and two mobile clinics. Just after the storm passed, Executive Director Nadine “Deanie” Singh and her team were ready to respond but soon learned that all their inventory – medicines and supplies – had been damaged or lost.

Seeing the full impact of the storm on her community and wanting to respond immediately, Singh decided to broaden her nonprofit’s scope of services and began sourcing and offering clothing, toiletries, diapers and supplies for children, as well as pet food. PMHS also started cooking hot meals for those in need.

“The past few days have been really heavy for us,” Singh said in an interview with Direct Relief, noting the devastation Ian brought to the area and its disproportional impact on the areas they serve.

“Some people have lost everything… the community was already underserved, they didn’t have much before, and many were living below the poverty guidelines. And to lose the little they had has been crippling. Their houses are probably rental homes, and landlords are evicting them, and they’ve lost jobs because of flooding,” Singh said, recounting what she has heard from her clients.

With help from various nonprofits, including Direct Relief, which provided medical and financial support for the group after the storm, along with other agencies, PMHS was able to partially restock their medications and supplies, as well as an EKG machine, and have resumed offering medical care, though still face shortages.

“People are stepping on nails, and we can’t triage them since we don’t have the supplies we need. Children are without diapers,” Singh said. “The need is bigger than what we, as a small agency, can fulfill… the government is trying to help, but it’s not enough as these people try to recover,” she said.

Currently, according to Singh, the most acute needs in her community include diapers, bleach, cleaning supplies, Tdap vaccines, and funding to pay for additional staff members to work out of their other mobile unit. PMHS currently has six staff members. Singh is hoping to hire additional nurse practitioners and medical assistants.

Last Tuesday, a PMHS mobile clinic was parked at Suncoast Community Center, a food pantry that provides additional nutritional food to low-income households. Singh’s team and volunteers had also set up tents to provide donated clothing, cleaning products, personal hygiene products, and meals to locals.

Suncoast has many mobile homes that Hurricane Ian damaged significantly. The neighborhood was without power.

Several patients arrived and said they were either out or running low on their medications. Reflecting how disasters can result in compounding challenges, one man requested antihistamines for his allergies because he had to have his windows open over the previous week.

Though faced with significant infrastructure damage and supply shortages, Singh said she and her team have been able to identify the most pressing needs and respond efficiently due to their consistent work over the previous four years – this, despite not having been able to adequately prepare for a storm of such magnitude due to budget constraints. She can also relate to some of the challenges her clients face on a personal level, having faced and overcome similar challenges as the community she now cares for, including facing barriers to care due to her prior undocumented status and as a teenage mother.

“The community knows me. I’m one of the trusted faces in the community. Based on that trust, the community is rallying behind us, but I’m a small provider with limited resources,” she said. “We’re out here trying to provide care the best we can.”

Since Hurricane Ian made landfall, Direct Relief has shipped more than 8 tons of medical aid to Florida. It is also providing financial support to health organizations responding in their communities, including Premier Mobile Health Services.

Additional reporting contributed by Marisa Mancuso Barnes.