Area hospitals adjust to increased patient counts after Hurricane Ian

Area hospitals are seeing an influx of injuries related to Hurricane Ian cleanup.

Dr. Scott Selph, emergency services director for HCA hospitals in West Florida, said the most common type of injury is orthopedic, typically related to people attempting tasks better left to professionals.

“The number one injury we’re seeing are orthopedic injuries from cleaning debris, whether it’s to clean up your yard, or using a ladder to get on the roof,” said Selph, who oversees emergency services for Hospital Corporation of America in Pinellas, Sarasota Manatee and Charlotte counties. “For the big jobs like tree removal or getting on a roof,  just recommend hiring professionals for that.”

Previously: HCA Florida reopens 100-bed hospital in Englewood after power, water restored

And: Hurricane Ian victims can get help with aid, shelter and more with these resources

At HCA Florida Blake Hospital, which is both a Level II trauma center and a burn center, patient volume has increased 10% to 20%, Selph said, then added that in addition to orthopedic injuries, there have been an increase in heat-related illnesses and respiratory issues.

Blake typically sees 115 to 120 patients a day at its Emergency Department.

At HCA Florida Doctors Hospital in Sarasota, the emergency caseload has increased 20% to 25% he added.

“The closer you are to where the catastrophic devastation was in Lee County, the more those patients in need are coming up north,” Selph said.

HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Charlotte County closed Sept. 29 because of damage from Hurricane Ian.

HCA Florida Englewood Hospital incurred minor damage during the storm and reopened Oct. 6, once water and power were restored.

Disaster mobile units improve care flow

The increase in patient volume and injury type mirrors that experienced by Sarasota Memorial Health Care System – especially the 110-bed Venice hospital which, because of its location at the Laurel Road exit off Interstate 75 was one of the most easily accessible medical facilities in the hours after Hurricane Ian made landfall near Fort Myers.

“Right after the storm passed there was a backlog of EMS cases,” SMH spokeswoman Kim Savage said. “We saw a lot of people who were suffering from a variety of ailments.

“Then, right after the storm passed, we saw a lot of injuries from people who were clearing debris,” she added. “We saw chainsaw injuries, we saw branches that had punctured their skin and got infected.”

That workload is in addition to cardiac care and stroke patients in need of care.

A 20-ambulance team stationed in Venice aided with transfer of patients to the larger Sarasota campus, as well as hospitals as far away as Tampa and Orlando.

Both the Sarasota and Venice hospital campuses remained open, with staff sheltering in place; the two hospitals cared for more than 700 patients during, and immediately after, the storm.

The Venice campus and its 28-bed emergency department got a big boost Oct. 2, after a federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team set up a 30-bed tent facility just outside the hospital’s ambulance bay.

The federal team of 37 doctors, nurses, physician assistants, paramedics and pharmacists functions as a second emergency department.

“In the last 24-hour period, they saw 88 patients in their ER, compared to 114 that we saw in ours,” Savage said. “They’re helping quite a bit with that volume.”

DMAT tent facilities of varying capabilities opened up in North Port and Port Charlotte in the past week. Including facilities that opened in Lee County – where local hospitals were hobbled by Hurricane Ian – Savage said as many as seven tent facilities have opened.

“Our volumes are still very high but what we have been able to do is manage it and create as normal a process as we can now in triaging and treating patients,” Savage said. “As we’ve found our new rhythm, things are going much more smoothly.

“We don’t have as long wait times, we’ve got that Disaster Medical Assistance Team set up outside of our ER in Venice and that’s helping with the influx of patients from the south.

Savage said the number of elective surgeries scheduled has been reduced and patients first seen in Venice are still being transferred to Sarasota or other hospitals.

“We’re just managing until things get back to the new normal,” she added.

Charlotte hospitals up and running

The unexpected closure of ShorePoint Health Venice hospital by its parent company, Community Health Systems, Inc., in September left south Sarasota County with a deficit of available bed space at Sarasota Memorial-Venice and HCA-Englewood.

Both the ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte and ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda hospital facilities are up open and functioning, according to an email from Jennifer Siem, a spokesperson for Bravera Health – a Nature Coast-based hospital system also owned by CHS Inc.

ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda is operational for emergency and inpatient services and limited surgeries and Emergency room patients are no longer experiencing unusually long wait times.

“Community need for health care services is at an all-time high, and our teams have provided care for hundreds of patients since the hurricane – many who have suffered aftermath-related injuries requiring emergency care,” Siem wrote. “Our teams also are delivering babies, taking care of critically ill patients in their ICUs, and performing dozens of procedures – even while sterile supplies are still limited – including the first open heart surgery Tuesday since the storm. All of this is taking place under very challenging circumstances."

She added that ShorePoint Port Charlotte is caring for more than 200 patients and has activated contingency plans for inpatient and surgical services, “to operate at more than double our normal capacity.”

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Memorial and HCA hospitals deal with Hurricane Ian