Louisiana hospitals hit by storm evacuate dozens of patients

3 years ago 290

BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana hospitals successful the way of Hurricane Ida were forced to evacuate dozens of patients aft the tempest near them with pieces torn disconnected their roofs, and h2o leaking down walls to excavation connected floors arsenic they relied connected exigency generators for electricity.

Ida smashed into the Louisiana seashore arsenic a devastating Category 4 hurricane Sunday astatine a clip erstwhile astir hospitals were astir afloat with coronavirus patients. Hospitals that suffered the worst harm worked Monday to transportation patients to different aesculapian centers successful the state, portion others kept operating connected generator power.

At Lady of the Sea General Hospital successful Lafourche Parish, adjacent wherever Ida made landfall, the tempest ripped distant a important information of the roof. On Monday morning, members of the U.S. Coast Guard managed to alert successful and evacuate astir 7 patients, Gov. John Bel Edwards said connected a telephone with President Joe Biden and different governors.

Ochsner Health, which runs Louisiana’s largest infirmary web and had astir 15 hospitals successful Ida’s path, evacuated 165 patients Monday from 3 hospitals from Houma and Raceland successful the hard-hit bayou region, said Warner Thomas, Ochsner Health's president and CEO.

Despite the evacuations, those hospitals inactive had exigency rooms unfastened Monday, helium said. Other Ochsner Health facilities successful New Orleans and elsewhere stayed afloat open, adjacent aft h2o leaked wrong aft the tempest blew disconnected rooftop ventilation covers and broke a fewer windows. All were moving connected generators, and immoderate utilized h2o from backstage wells.

“We cognize that we're successful for respective days, possibly a mates of weeks of this situation,” Warner Thomas told reporters successful a video league Monday.

Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana's main wellness officer, said Monday connected Twitter that large hospitals seemed to person suffered insignificant harm from the hurricane, portion a fewer smaller hospitals “suffered important damage.”

Kanter urged radical to debar going to hospitals if possible, saying they “will beryllium busy” successful coming days.

New patients had begun to amusement up Monday greeting astatine exigency rooms seeking attraction for storm-related injuries. Thomas said helium expects those cases volition turn arsenic residents doing repairs and cleanup interruption bones falling disconnected ladders oregon chopped themselves with chainsaws.

“It’ll beryllium tight. It’s been choky passim COVID, arsenic we know,” said Mike Hulefeld, Ochsner Health's main operating officer. "We person capable carnal abstraction ... but it's astir having capable radical and staff.”

Hulefield said Ochsner Health went into the tempest with capable substance to powerfulness generators for 10 days, and efforts to replenish that proviso were underway. He anticipated nary problems bringing successful capable water, nutrient oregon aesculapian supplies.

Hospitals successful Mississippi and Alabama person reached retired offering to instrumentality successful immoderate of the company's patients, Thomas said, but truthful acold administrators were uncovering country elsewhere successful Louisiana.

Edwards said Louisiana was prioritizing power restoration to hospitals due to the fact that truthful galore are connected generator powerfulness — 51, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. The politician said national and authorities catastrophe effect agencies are moving to enactment technicians astatine the hospitals “to support the generators moving arsenic agelong arsenic possible, but besides to (determine) precisely what size generator is needed truthful we tin get a backup connected tract successful lawsuit that 1 should fail."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said 4 Louisiana hospitals suffered harm from Ida. It did not specify which hospitals sustained damage.

Five Louisiana hospitals had evacuated their patients oregon were readying to bash truthful Monday, said Kevin Litten, spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Health. Litten did not accidental however galore patients were being moved.

At Lady of the Sea General Hospital, wherever the Coast Guard rescued patients, CEO Karen Collins said successful a connection relayed Sunday connected Facebook determination were nary injuries. The hospital’s telephone strategy was down Monday.

Another Lafourche Parish hospital, Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, reported a partial generator nonaccomplishment Sunday that forced immoderate patients to beryllium moved. Louisiana authorities Rep. Tanner Magee of Houma said Thibodaux General's unit moved patients connected ventilators done the stairwells to get them to different portion of the infirmary that had electricity.

Ida struck arsenic hospitals and their intensive attraction units were filled with patients from the 4th surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, a question fueled by the highly contagious delta variant and debased vaccination rates crossed Louisiana.

An estimated 2,400 coronavirus patients were successful Louisiana hospitals erstwhile the hurricane hit, according the governor.

Thomas said Ochsner Health was moving to find impermanent lodging for perchance hundreds of unit incapable to instrumentality location due to the fact that of tempest damage. He said that aft 2005's Hurricane Katrina, galore stayed successful New Orleans hotels. But administrators are having to look extracurricular the metropolis aft Ida, which severed powerfulness to each of New Orleans by inflicting monolithic harm to its electrical grid.

“I deliberation the biggest situation successful the coming days is astir our people," Thomas said. “We’re going to person tons of radical who person harm to their homes.”

___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. AP writers Jeff Martin successful Marietta, Georgia, and Joshua Boak successful Washington contributed.

Read Entire Article