Employees Reach Out to People Affected by Hurricane Florence

As Hurricane Florence approached the coastline of the Carolinas, the people of UnitedHealth Group, Optum and UnitedHealthcare went into action to help prepare for the storm, help provide members with access to care and prescription medications and ensure their colleagues in the area were safe and secure. In the aftermath of the storm, our people continued to help the residents of North Carolina and South Carolina recover and rebuild.

Despite the damage and loss of power to her home, Tashlyn Thomas, an Optum HouseCalls nurse practitioner, joined a team staffing one of UnitedHealthcare's mobile clinics. The rolling health care sites were deployed to Wallace and Wilmington, North Carolina, to provide care for people affected by the hurricane.  For more of Tashlyn's story, see the video.

In addition to the UnitedHealthcare mobile clinics:

• UnitedHealthcare hosted a water collection and delivery drive throughout North and South Carolina. Approximately 25,000 bottles of water were collected and delivered to the American Red Cross Operations Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, to be distributed to people in the area.
  
  
• OptumRx is working with Healthcare Ready to supply emergency kits and prescription drug donations.
  
  
• Optum is offering a free emotional-support help line and referrals to community resources to people affected by the hurricane, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That service – free of charge and open to anyone – will continue for as long as necessary.
  
  
• UnitedHealth Group and its businesses donated $1 million to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund and $500,000 to the One SC Fund. The company also is matching dollar-for-dollar donations employees make to charities supporting recovery efforts. So far, employee donations and the company match has raised nearly an additional $70,000.