This report examines how health care delivery systems in receiving communities meet the needs of climate migrants. The research team drew on insights from interviews with health care providers and county-level data from the Area Resources Health File in three case study sites in the US Gulf Coast: Houston, Texas, where migrants relocated from Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Orange and Osceola Counties surrounding Orlando, Florida, where migrants from Puerto Rico relocated after Hurricane Maria in 2017; and northern Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes, where migrants from southern coastal regions relocated in response to ongoing sea level rise and environmental degradation. We examine how each community’s health care system interpreted the needs of climate migrants and how they shifted services in response to those needs over time.

This report is one of five studies of climate migration and institutional impacts in the Climate Migration and Receiving Community Institutional Capacity in the US Gulf Coast project, which examines impacts to housing markets, financial institutions and financial health, employment and economic development, health care systems, and social, cultural, and recreational institutions.

Why This Matters

Data on the impacts of climate migration on receiving communities’ health institutions are limited. More evidence is needed to support research and policy to improve the health, health care access, and well-being of climate migrants in their new communities and to support health institutions in planning for long-term resilience.

Key Insights

1. Health care systems contend with climate migrants’ health concerns, which often represent a complexity of mental and physical needs.
2. People and organizations support the health of climate migrants based on existing capacities and capabilities.
3. Service providers in receiving communities have been hampered by information challenges, financial resource limitations, and lack of centralized coordination.
4. Climate migrants’ ability to access health services is contingent on broader social and economic factors before, during, and after migration.
5. During the period of study, health systems adapted and evolved to meet the needs of climate migrants.

Policy Recommendations

• Address both mental and physical health issues that might result from the intersection of migration stress and stress from other hazards.
• Support the coordination of organizations that can address upstream social and economic issues that can exacerbate health issues for climate migrants.
• Plan for climate migrants by reviewing plans for service delivery, coordination of health services with social services provided by supporting organizations, and augmenting data systems to better monitor the health needs of this population.

How We Did It

This report relies on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to understand how health systems in the study sites performed before, during, and after the arrival of climate migrants. We drew quantitative data from the Area Health Resources Files published by the Bureau of Health Workforce, and the qualitative data consisted of 16 semi-structured interviews with health system experts and representatives: 2 from Houston, 9 from Orange and Osceola Counties surrounding Orlando, and 5 from Louisiana.