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Midwest Floods: Staff Attrition, Mutual Aid, Plan-B Communications

Emergency Management Alert, August 28, 2007

Here's a quick sum-up of how this month's floods in the Midwest affected the operations of various hospitals. From the American Hospital Association's AHA News Now, August 23:

Winona Health's Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet, MN, treated 31 flood victims, five of whom were hospitalized, and provided more than 2,400 tetanus and hepatitis vaccinations to area shelters. Some 35 Winona employees had their homes destroyed or seriously damaged, and a primary care clinic owned by the hospital was severely flooded. Elsewhere in Minnesota, Franciscan Skemp Healthcare temporarily closed its Houston clinic, a St. Charles clinic operated by Olmsted Medical Center was severely damaged, and sewers flooded the basement of Owatonna Hospital in Steele County. In Oklahoma, Watonga (OK) Municipal Hospital turned to emergency generators for power. In Wisconsin, Richland Hospital in Richland Center was forced to rely on cell phones to communicate, and hospital staff helped the community pump out flooded basements and clean up debris. Prairie du Chien (WI) Memorial Hospital housed 10 residents evacuated from a nearby nursing home, and Boscobel Area Health Care, a rural hospital, took 11 patients from a local nursing home.

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