Healthcare facilities on Cape Cod are prepared for the next big storm with plans built on past experiences, according to the Cape Cod website. In advance of a major storm, diesel tanks for Cape Cod Hospital’s three generators will be topped off, and anything outdoors that might be blown away, such as construction scaffolding, will be taken down or secured.
Similar steps will been taken at: Falmouth Hospital; the system’s urgent care clinics in Harwich, Hyannis, Sandwich and Falmouth; the JML Care Center in Falmouth; and Heritage at Falmouth, a retirement facility. Hospital patients who can be safely discharged will be sent home, and elective surgeries will be postponed.
Cape Cod Hospital also has agreements with Eversource for electricity, as well as suppliers of fuel, food, medicine and laundry services, to meet its needs during a catastrophic storm.
Everyone on staff, not just nurses and doctors, are essential to keep the hospital running, says Frank Riccio, director of security, safety and emergency preparedness. They might have to stay on-site for several days. Drivers with four-wheel drive vehicles will provide rides to and from the hospital to workers who need transportation.
“We set up sleeping accommodations,” Riccio says. “We don’t send them out in a blizzard.”
Cathryn Jakicic is healthcare industries editor of FacilitiesNet.com. For more information on hospital campuses and other medical facilities, visit Healthcare Facilities Today.
