Hospitals and other healthcare facilities across the Gulf Coast breathed a loud sigh of relief as it became clear that Hurricane Rita failed to create the kind of widespread damage some worst-case scenarios had predicted. HCA hospitals called damage to its facilities "limited to non-existent." Others were not as lucky. The Houston Chronicle reports that hospitals in Beaumont, Texas, suffered quite badly. For staff who remained to watch the few patients who were not evacuated in time, the hours when the storm struck were a harrowing ordeal.
- see this story from the Houston Chronicle
- see this story from the Los Angeles Times