Oct. 11 --PANAMA CITY Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart began the orderly evacuation of more than 200 patients to hospitals outside the area affected by Hurricane Michael early Thursday morning.
The hospital sustained roof, structural and water damage during the hurricane on Wednesday, and a section of the roof collapsed in the hospital's materials management building, compromising a significant store of supplies needed to sustain care over the long-term.
Hurricane Michael also caused substantial broken glass, cooling and plumbing issues, and loss of information systems.
Hospital staff were working to transport 209 patients in total, including 39 intensive care patients who were expected to be transferred first. Patients will be transferred to Ascension hospitals in Pensacola and Jacksonville, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama. Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, St. Vincent Hospital in Jacksonville and Sacred Heart on the Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach are all also available to accept patients.
Evacuation is expected to be complete within 48 hours.
Tyra Palmer, senior vice president at Ardent Health Services, said crews worked through the night to clear roadways around the hospital, and by 3 a.m., 13 ambulance crews had started transporting patients.
The hospitals emergency department remains open, and Palmer said Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart planned to open its free-standing emergency room on Panama City Beach on Friday.Source: pnj.com
Like Reno, I ripped the press for the Over-hyping and hyperventilating about Florence when it was Obvious the storm was going to be significantly weakened well before landfall.
We all knew that the flooding inland was going to be horrific, but it was also obvious the coast was not going to be scoured clean.
My worry then was that the press proclaims every storm the STORM OF THE MILLENIA!!!!, and that people would begin to ignore the warnings and become complacent.
Hurricane Michael has thrown that to the wind (no pun intended), and has shown quite clearly that while a vast majority of storms historically have weakened and been nowhere near the monster predicted -- there will always be the ONE! And this time Micheal was the ONE!
So, we need to learn to put up with the Sheppard Smiths of the world wetting themselves in anticipation, put up with Anderson Cooper kneeling in puddles and live with Jim Cantore holding on to Stop signs -- because while 99 out of 100 storms may not live up to the hype, there will always be the next ONE!