Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
After Ian, Florida Hospitals Evacuate Hundreds of Patients
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 year ago on
September 29, 2022

Share

 

Hundreds of hospital patients were being evacuated from facilities across the Fort Myers region Thursday after damage from Hurricane Ian cut off water supplies. One area hospital began assessing the full damage from ferocious winds that tore away parts of its roof and swamped its emergency room.

Other health care systems in Ian’s path, from the state’s Gulf coast to the Atlantic, were also moving patients because of flood waters.

Even as the problem was too much water in much of the state, at least nine hospitals in southwest Florida had the opposite problem.

“We have one large health system in southwest Florida that is without water in all of their facilities. And so they are fast approaching a point where they will not be able to safely take care of their patients. So that is an urgent focus to get those patients transferred,” said Mary Mayhew, the president of the Florida Hospital Association.

Mayhew said more 1,200 patients were being evacuated.

Meanwhile, other hospitals could find themselves further strained, she said.

“There is considerable effort underway to rescue individuals who also will need medical care. And to identify hospital beds available either in the region or elsewhere,” she said.

Hurricane Ian swamped HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte from both above and below, as the storm surge flooded its lower level emergency room while fierce winds tore part of its fourth floor roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.

Dr. Birgit Bodine spent the night at the hospital, anticipating the storm would make things busy, “but we didn’t anticipate that the roof would blow off on the fourth floor,” she said.

Water gushed down Wednesday from above onto the ICU, forcing staff to evacuate the hospital’s sickest patients — some of them on ventilators — to other floors. Staff members resorted to towels and plastic bins to try to mop up the sodden mess.

The medium-sized hospital spans four floors, but patients were forced into just two because of the damage.

Bodine plans to spend another night at the hospital, when incoming storm injuries could make things worse.

“The ambulances may be coming soon and we don’t know where to put them in the hospital at this point,” she said. “Because we’re doubled and tripled up.”

Despite the inundation, Bodine said patients have been mostly understanding and upbeat.

“For us, as much as everything is terrible and we’re exhausted … as long as our patients do OK and nobody ends up dying or having a bad outcome, that’s what matters,” Bodine said.

In Orlando, residents of the Avante nursing home were evacuated to ambulances and waiting buses through floodwater in a neighborhood that doesn’t typically flood. Paramedics rolled out residents one by one on stretchers and wheelchairs. At the neighboring Palm Island at Baldwin apartment complex, cars were submerged in the parking lot.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Federal Student Loans for Nearly 153,000 Borrowers Being Canceled, Biden Says

DON'T MISS

Fani Willis’ Father Says He Didn’t Know About Willis’ Relationship with Prosecutor Until Recently

DON'T MISS

Shooting After Chiefs Super Bowl Parade Seemed to Stem from Dispute Among Several People, Police Say

DON'T MISS

Russia Has Obtained a ‘Troubling’ Emerging Anti-Satellite Weapon, The White House Says

DON'T MISS

Trump’s New York Hush-Money Case Will Start March 25. It’s the First of His Criminal Trials

DON'T MISS

House Intelligence Committee Chair Warns of a Serious National Security Threat

DON'T MISS

Antisemitism and Safety Fears Surge Among US Jews, Survey Finds

DON'T MISS

Senate Passes $95.3B Package for Ukraine and Israel, but Fate in House Uncertain

DON'T MISS

Biden’s Memory Is ‘Hazy’ and ‘Poor,’ Says Special Counsel’s Report in Documents Case

DON'T MISS

How Will Biden Respond to Deadly Attack on US Forces in Jordan?

No data was found

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

15 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

15 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

15 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

15 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

16 hours ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

16 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

16 hours ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

17 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

20 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

20 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

PGA HOPE, now underway at Fresno’s Riverside Golf Course, is designed to introduce golf to veterans and active duty military members t...

13 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Fresno's Riverside Golf Course
13 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

15 hours ago

Cronenworth’s Big Hit Helps Lift the Padres to a 6-4 Win Over Melvin’s Giants

15 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Reaches 3 Times in Home Debut as the Dodgers Rout the Cardinals 7-1

15 hours ago

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

15 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

15 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

15 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

16 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend