Beth Anderson called on her disaster training, administrative experience and Virginia roots to lead the USA Medical Center through the ice storm.
“It was an adventure,” she said, after spending three days straight at the Medical Center. “The staff and department heads pulled together for our patients. We did brilliantly.”
The historic storm made for some great memories. Staff wore coats over pajamas and walked outside the front entrance of the Medical Center to savor the winter wonderland. Some used the tops of instrument trays as sleds down the hill near the physician’s parking lot, and the Burn Unit team made snow angels.
Anderson and Lisa Mestas, assistant administrator and chief nurse, passed out snacks and drinks to teams on Tuesday who were sleeping over at the hospital since the roads were becoming unsafe.
“All over the hospital, people were watching movies in their PJs,” she said. “There was a great comradery among our teams. The 5th floor nurses stayed together; the ICU nurses stayed together. If one person forgot something, someone else would loan it to them.”
Among the most popular snacks? Fresh popcorn made from a theater-style popcorn maker Orthopaedics Chair Dr. Fred Meyer had bought the operating room staff last year. Staff members popped and bagged the fresh popcorn, and Anderson and Mestas delivered it to impromptu movie gatherings across the hospital. Meyer was at the hospital Wednesday, after battling icy roads, in order to care for patients in need of an orthopaedic surgeon due to slips and falls.
Meanwhile, the security guards were helping patient families scrape off their cars and jumpstart cars that had fallen victim to the cold temperatures.
Trauma surgeons were on call for emergencies, which included at least three helicopter’s worth of trauma patients, all from motor vehicle accidents related to the ice.
Unlike a Hurricane
Anderson and the Medical Center department heads began meeting regularly on Tuesday and called in night-side nursing crews early, so the staff could get to the hospital before the roads turned to ice.
Unlike a hurricane, the ice storm came up more quickly and didn’t leave the team as much time to prepare.
“We didn’t have a lot of notice,” she said. “Usually for a hurricane, we have two to three days where we can work with patients and their families and get them discharged.”
The patient census before a hurricane typically hovers under 100. As the Medical Center braced for Tuesday’s ice storm, it was 140.
The experience of Hurricane Katrina had helped Anderson and the team with their own emergency supplies for the storm. Many had air mattresses at the hospital for just such an emergency. Others brought in sleeping bags and blankets.
“A lot of this same crew was the Katrina crew,” she said. “We learned so much. We were a little rusty after nine years, but we did well.”
USA Hospitals Working Together
During the ice storm, administrators at both USA Medical Center and USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital used the same teamwork they employ daily.
Medical Center Administrator Beth Anderson and Children’s & Women’s Administrator Owen Bailey remained in contact throughout the storm, making sure they were coordinating efforts and delivering a consistent message to their staffs. Children’s & Women’s Assistant Administrator Chris Jett participated in the calls as well.
“We had to make decisions along the way,” Anderson said. “We made sure we were telling the staff the same things and doing the same things to care for our patients.”
Since the hospital courier service was stopped due to the poor driving conditions, some joint hospital functions, such as lab work, were disrupted. Medical Center Laboratory Services Director Rick Cooke used his four-wheel drive truck to pick up specimens from Children’s & Women’s and deliver them to the Medical Center for testing.
The two hospitals even coordinated menus for a celebratory Thursday morning breakfast for employees who had been living at the hospital for days in order to care for patients. The sausage biscuits were a huge hit.
Children’s & Women’s Dining Services staff started cooking sausage and biscuits at 3:30 a.m. as a Thursday morning breakfast treat for the staff. When the biscuits ran out, the menu switched to fresh-baked cookies.
“I’m so proud of our team,” Bailey said. “They were so understanding and willing to do whatever needs to be done for our patients.”
Movie night in the USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital board room on Wednesday was supplemented with soft drinks and snacks Administrator Owen Bailey bought from the Walgreen’s across the street Wednesday afternoon. He and Assistant Administrator and Chief Nurse Carol Druckenmiller made it to the drug store minutes before it closed.
The administrators said they were grateful to departmental managers and staff who put the patients first and stayed at the hospital to care for patients and their families.
“The spirit of everybody was very positive,” Bailey said. “Everyone knew deep down that they were doing the best for the patients.”
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