What is the situation with Jacksonville-area hospitals as Hurricane Ian's effects soon to be felt?
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Jacksonville-area hospitals remained open Wednesday as Hurricane Ian approached, although some of them have limited procedures and visitation and closed specialty centers.
Baptist Health postponed elective surgeries, procedures and diagnostic studies scheduled for Thursday at its major hospitals and closed some affiliated specialty centers. But other operations continued as normal.
"We do not plan to close any of our hospitals at this time," Baptist Heath spokeswoman Wesley Roberts said.
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Meanwhile, as the storm brought 155 mph winds to Southwest Florida and was poised to cause damage across the state, 15 hospitals and 131 nursing homes and assisted-living facilities evacuated patients and residents, according to Simone Marstiller, secretary of the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
About 350 hospital patients, 3,508 residents at 40 nursing homes and 3,012 residents at 91 assisted living facilities were evacuated, she said.
Hospitals that "hunker down" and do not evacuate patients or shut down maintain sophisticated emergency-management plans and close communication with the state, said Justin Senior, CEO of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida.
"Every hospital is going to make sure that it has [electricity] generating capacity, fuel for the generators, food and water and is communicating with the state about what is functioning, what is not functioning and what its needs are," Senior said.
The status of area hospitals
Here is a roundup of Jacksonville hospitals' status late Wednesday afternoon, according to hospital representatives:
• Ascension St. Vincent’s medical group offices, which are doctor's offices, primary care, urgent care and specialty care clinics that are affiliated with the hospital, are closed Thursday through Friday. All Ascension St. Vincent’s hospitals remain open. facebook.com/AscensionStVincentsJax
• Baptist Health-affiliated physicians and specialty offices are closed Thursday. Also, at 6 a.m. Thursday hospital visitation will be temporarily limited to one designated visitor for each adult patient who can stay for the duration of the storm and two visitors for labor and delivery or Wolfson Children's patients. baptistjax.com/emergency-alert.
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• HCA Florida Memorial Hospital, HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital and affiliated free-standing emergency rooms will remain open during the storm. But three HCA Florida-affiliated imaging centers and 18 specialty and physicians offices are closed for the rest of the week. hcafloridahealthcare.com
"We have no further plans," spokeswomen Odette Struys said.
• Mayo Clinic has postponed surgeries "that are not considered urgent or emergent" for Thursday and Friday, spokesman Kevin Punsky said. Its COVID drive-thru facility, vaccine clinic and St. Augustine primary care location will be closed Thursday and Friday, but the Beaches and Gate Parkway primary care locations remain open. Regular operations are expected to resume Saturday. mayoclinic.org
• Nemours Children's Health Jacksonville, including its San Marco, Nocatee and Fleming Island locations, is closed Thursday. A decision on reopening Friday will be announced as soon as possible. nemours.org/about/alert/severe-weather-operational-changes.html
• St. Augustine-based Flagler Hospital will limit access at 8 p.m. Wednesday, admitting only patients seeking emergency care or labor and delivery services via the emergency care center entrance. All visitors must leave the hospital by 8 p.m. Outpatient surgeries and elective procedures Thursday and Friday will be rescheduled. All Flagler Health+ Ambulatory Enterprise locations and satellite offices are closed Thursday and Friday and are expected to reopen Monday. flaglerhealth.org/patients-visitors/weather-updates
• All UF Health's primary and specialty care practices in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia are closed Thursday. They are expected to reopen Friday. ufhealthjax.org
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville hospitals make adjustments as Hurricane Ian approaches
