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Hurricane Charley forces ASCs to reschedule procedures

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, September 1, 2004

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Hurricane Charley forced several Florida ambulatory surgery centers to shut their doors and reschedule close to 200 procedures due to power outages, according to a report in the Orlando Business Journal.

Same Day Surgicenter of Orlando lost power August 13 after Charley came ashore at Cayo Costa, a barrier island off Florida's southwestern coast. The surgery center had power back August 18, and workers had to spend the next two days sterilizing equipment, forcing them to reschedule between 45 and 50 surgeries, center Administrator Robert Bashore told the Business Journal.

Kissimmee Surgery Center in Kissimmee, FL, about 15 miles south of Orlando, had to reschedule almost 125 procedures after losing power for almost a week. The center's management staff kept all surgery schedules and phone lists for the week with them so they could contact physicians and patients in an emergency, center Administrator Lou Warmijak told the Business Journal.

Charley was the second-most expensive hurricane to hit the United States, costing more than $7 billion in insured damages, according to The Associated Press. Hurricane Andrew, which devastated southern Florida in 1992, caused $15.5 billion in insured damages.

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