Area Hospitals Spring into Action at Threat of a Tropical Storm or Hurricane

Jul. 16–Just as residents prepare for the onslaught of a hurricane — stocking food and water, boarding windows and even evacuating — so must hospitals.

Area hospitals spent hundreds of thousands of dollars last year preparing for, and then cleaning up from, the four hurricanes that slammed the Sunshine State last year.

With an active hurricane season expected in 2005, hospital officials are skittish about predicting this year’s tab. Florida has already been hit by a tropical storm and a hurricane, and the season is not yet two months old.

“We expect above average tropical cyclone activity in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, in general,” said Al Sandrik, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville. “However, we cannot say how many of those storms may make landfall.”

Thanks to earlier-than-usual hurricane activity this year “everybody senses that its going to be just about as bad as last year,” said Mike Snapp, safety officer at the Mayo Clinic. “It’s just a matter of where it hits.”

Like weather forecasters, hospitals track tropical storms and hurricanes. And when they identify a possible direct hit, they spring into action calling in additional staff and resources.

When hurricanes or major storms threaten the area, a team of about 850 St. Luke’s employees including clinical and non-clinical staff work extra hours, Snapp said. For instance, surgery staff who typically work eight-hour shifts would work 12-hour shifts, Snapp said. This ensures the hospital is adequately staffed to deal with the heavier-than-usual influx of patients that might come with the storm.

St. Vincent’s Medical Center tracks storms and “when they look like they are coming that’s when we start to spend some dollars,” Chief Financial Officer Jim Corrigan said. “All of a sudden, now we are calling people who weren’t scheduled to work. People start getting some overtime.”

Last year the hospital shelled out more than $645,000 in hurricane-related expenses. Most of the money was spent paying workers overtime and in repairs to buildings and equipment.

St. Vincent’s spent about $100,000 on Frances last year, of which about $32,000 was payroll. In the case of Ivan, St. Vincent’s despatched a team of medical staff to Pensacola, a venture that cost $30,000 in travel and lodging expenses.

Memorial Hospital spent more than $100,000 in preparation and clean-up after last year’s hurricanes, Mitch Mongell, chief operating officer, said.

The majority of the money — about $68,000 — was spent on food, water, ice, plywood and other supplies. About $35,000 was spent on employee wages and overtime pay, Mongell said.

The hurricanes resulted in minimal damage to Memorial.

“We did very, very well,” Mongell said. “There was some very light cosmetic damage.”

Competitor Baptist Health, which operates five area hospitals on the First Coast, wasn’t as lucky. The hospital system spent more than $100,000 preparing and dealing with hurricane-related issues.

The threat of a hurricane hitting the area, triggered an evacuation of the 122-bed Baptist Medical Center-Beaches. Patients were transferred to St. Luke’s and Orange Park Medical Center, said Andy Sikes, director of safety, security and parking for Baptist Health.

Sikes, like the other hospital officials, side-stepped speculation on how much Baptist might end up paying for hurricane damage and preparedness this year.

“Everything will depend on what the storms do,” he said. “It’s all going to be based on whether we get a direct hit or a glancing blow. If it’s a direct hit . . . all bets are off.”

St. Vincent’s doesn’t budget for hurricanes but has a contingency fund that can be tapped to pay for natural disasters.

“I am hoping to spend zero [dollars this year],” Corrigan said. “I guess, I’d be very happy if we spend no more than $50,000 on hurricane preparation.”

Based on the hurricane activity so far, that might be wishful thinking.

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