NUHEALTH SYSTEM HURRICANE UPDATE– AUGUST 27, 2011 10:00 AM
August 27, 2011
PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
Shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055
NUHEALTH SYSTEM HURRICANE UPDATE– AUGUST 27, 2011 10:00 AM
EAST MEADOW, NY… The following is an update on the patients and nursing home residents being evacuated from long Beach and transferred to the Nassau University Medical Center and the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility:
The NUMC command center opened at 6:30 AM today, following implementation of the Hospital Incident Command System yesterday afternoon on August 26, 2011.
We anticipated the number of transfers and staffed accordingly.
52 Long Beach Medical Center patients were transferred to NUMC this morning, starting at 7AM. Included in that number, are 9 psychiatric patients, 5 rehabilitation patients, with the rest being a mixture of intensive care and general medical/surgical patients.
50 Long Beach Komanoff Nursing Home residents were transported to the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility and will remain housed in Uniondale for the duration of the hurricane.
NUMC officials have assisted the Nassau County Police Ambulance Bureau, presently located in a trailer in the old ambulance parking lot at NUMC, to relocate to the new emergency department EMS room at NUMC.
As a result of emergency departments closing on the south shore of Nassau County, we are experiencing an increase in emergency room visits at NUMC.
Arthur A. Gianelli, NuHealth’s President/CEO stated: “NUMC, a Level I trauma center, is playing the most important role of any hospital in Nassau County, particularly because of the number of transfers we’ve accepted and the fact that we are the southern-most hospital that’s accepting patients. The new emergency department, which is no longer susceptible to flooding, was built in the nick of time.”
Gianelli thanked staff for their dedication during this difficult time: “At times of crises, NuHealth and its staff rise to the occasion. We are accepting over 50 hospital transfers from Long Beach Medical Center, which was forced to evacuate in anticipation of the oncoming hurricane. We are also accepting over 50 additional nursing home residents being transferred from endangered facilities. And we are the southernmost hospital in Nassau County still accepting patients to our Emergency Department. Once again, we are proving to everyone just how indispensable our health system is, and we are demonstrating to all the quality of the professionals we employ.”
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.