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Hospital trouble in Hurricane Ike

Emergency Management Alert, September 16, 2008

Hurricane Ike pummeled the Gulf Coast area of Texas over the weekend, damaging some hospitals and testing others’ emergency preparedness efforts.

Following the hurricane:

• In Galveston, the University of Texas Medical Branch evacuated its patients before the storm, but maintained a staff of about 500 in order to provide emergency care, reported Fox News. A hospital spokesman said Saturday night that no major trauma cases had appeared. The hospital was damaged by wind and rain, and sustained some broken windows, roof damage, and flooding. The facility is being powered by generators and is not admitting patients. The spokesman said the hospital is receiving patients for emergency treatment and then transferring them to other facilities.
• In Houston, Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex, remained unscathed by the storm and stayed open, reported the Associated Press. The Methodist Hospital in Houston did not lose power during the storm, unlike many other hospitals in the state, and saw only minimal leaking throughout the building, reported Fox News.
• In Austin, about three hours northwest of Houston, hospitals reported seeing twice as many patients as usual on Saturday. Hospitals remain on alert as more patients may appear following search and rescue operations on the coast or following a possible shutdown in other area hospitals facing power and utility outages, The Austin American-Statesman also reported some hospitals in the Baytown, Beaumont, and Houston areas lack power and face phone, water, and sewer problems.
• In Port Arthur, The Medical Center of Southeast Texas—evacuated Friday prior to the hurricane’s landfall—became damaged during the storm. Employees reported damage to the roof and water leaks inside the facility. Power was out in the community and the center closed for further assessment and repairs, according to a press release from the hospital’s owner IASIS Healthcare LLC.
• In Lake Charles, LA, Christus St. Patrick Hospital suffered heavy flooding on Saturday. A spokesman said a handful of search and rescue victims came in Saturday night, some of them requiring surgery. The spokesman said the hospital was beginning to see patients in need of dialysis, reported Fox News.

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