NUHEALTH HURRICANE SANDY UPDATE #19 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012 10:00AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2012
PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055
NUHEALTH HURRICANE SANDY UPDATE #19 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012 10:00AM
East Meadow, NY….Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System announces the following update for the Nassau University Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility and the Family Health Centers:
The crisis appears to have abated. Our hospital census last evening was 476 patients. Our nursing home continues to house over 620 residents. All of our health centers are on line.
The DMAT and associated National Public Health Service team will be demobilizing in the coming days. We have worked out a plan to utilize nurses and other staff from the Long Beach Medical Center to supplement our staff if we continue to operate at an elevated census.
The fuel rationing plan implemented by the County appears to have reduced the lines for gas, so our employees are now able to obtain gas and get to and from work. Prior to the implementation of this plan, NuHealth had employed a two pronged strategy of making small amounts of fuel available to staff from our shipments combined with a partnership with the BP station on Hempstead Turnpike west of the hospital. The station owner permitted our staff to fuel up at a dedicated pump. He deserves our future business as well as our thanks.
We are proud to have placed 37 staff members and their families in unused housing on the East Meadow campus. These families lost their homes as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Island Harvest will be making food available to these families, and CSEA obtained donations of cots and bed linens for these housing units. We will be hosting a press event on Tuesday at noon to announce this initiative.
By way of conclusion, and to express our admiration and appreciation to our staff for their exemplary dedication during this event, I’ve pasted below a glowing assessment of our performance during this crisis from Kevin Hoban, the DMAT team leader. In the midst of real failures of institutions at the local and regional levels, NuHealth truly rose to the occasion and has set a standard for emergency responsiveness. Mr. Hoban’s assessment reflects this view.
COMMENTS BY DMAT TEAM LEADER HOBAN:
I was very impressed with the command execution of the command center team as well as your administrative officers. They get it! You all understand Incident Command System and you are very effective and intuitive. In my many years of experience, I found it to be very well run!
Not only are you trying to mitigate a crisis, but you are primary victims, yet still continue to put patients’ needs ahead of everything. You are to be commended for this!
You had your priorities straight. The things you did to care for your people, I have never seen that level of command organization in a hospital.
DMAT TEAM LEADER
KEVIN HOBAN
FIRE CHIEF
MESILLA
NEW MEXICO
ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life. Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community. By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.
For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.