Danielle Favorite, director of nursing at the hospital, Altamonte Springs, Florida, said that AdventHealth Kissimmee employees arrived shortly before Hurricane Ian hit with air mattresses and clothing and food. . The workers gathered down when the facility was surrounded by several meters of water, she said.
“Whenever we are approaching hurricane season, we prepare and put [employees] on Team A and Team B,” she said. “Team A is the team that will be with us through the storm and team B is what we call our recovery team. They arrived as soon as the roads cleared and cleared so we could go home and rest,” Favorite said.
By arranging sleeping quarters for hospital staff, patients can still receive 24-hour care without having to worry that staff won’t be able to go to work because of flooding, Favorite said. This way, more staff is available to protect patients from water ingress and other types of storm damage, she said.
When handling patients during Hurricane Ian, Fort Myers Lee Health deployed additional resources such as on-site infection prevention specialists to ensure clinicians adhere to quality and safety procedures. as safe as cleaning central line equipment with boiled water and preventing patients from falling, says Dr. Stephanie Stovall. , head of the quality and safety department of the health system.
In addition, Lee Health staff must set up visitor areas during storms so they don’t impede the flow of patients or impede their care, Stovall said. “We always consider the mental and emotional safety of our patients by ensuring that we keep them informed of what is happening around them and keep the public informed when we have to make changes. how we care for our community members,” she said.
Procedures have also been taken to provide care to those unable to go to the hospital because of the storm.
Before DispatchHealth sent doctors to medical patients at home after Hurricane Ian, Perry said, the company had to make sure its workers were safe and that the roads were clear, and that there were no water or power lines. broken. Care teams must also verify their communication systems are working and that they have access to medical records.
“Even if we cannot communicate with primary care providers or specialists in a two-way conversation as usual, we still have very valuable information,” he said. through integrating EHR with its healthcare system.
DispatchHealth teams from the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas came to support DispatchHealth employees near Cape Coral in southwest Florida, bringing cars, medications, technology, and supplies for point-of-home check-ups .
The company also works with health systems to share resources and onboard patients whose care hospitals cannot access because of power, water and capacity issues, Perry said. DispatchHealth is currently integrating its services with a partner with a telehealth platform to provide a broader range of care to the community, he said.
“The request and enthusiasm to get help from the rest of the state is really helping our teams and helping Fort Myers right now,” Perry said.
Another focus on quality and safety for HCA Healthcare is ensuring its team members have access to fuel, food, laundromats, showers, portable generators, tarps. roof coverings and other vital supplies to preserve their homes, Chari said. Employees affected by Hurricane Ian can also apply for benefits through the health system’s Hope Fund and seek help from its employee assistance program, he said.
“It’s under the umbrella of care for our people who will be taking care of our patients,” Chari said. “Having dedicated employees who believe in our organization because we support them gives us the best chance of getting the best care.”
