ORLANDO, Fla. – During hurricanes, hospitals go into overdrive to stay open, protecting and serving patients through any kind of weather.
“When a storm comes, we bring in enough water, enough food, enough diesel fuel, whatever it is, to run this campus autonomously for several days,” said Brad Hillmon, chief operating officer at AdventHealth Orlando.
While emergency rooms stay open, if weather threatens a certain facility, mission control teams are always ready to coordinate transfers for patients out of harm’s way.
In Mission Control at AdventHealth Orlando, the large quiet room is filled with people fixated on multiple computer screens and monitors in front of each of them. The office runs 24/7 to coordinate patient care for eight Central Florida hospital locations. While everyone else is hunkered down, EMS stays on the road as long as safely possible.
Serving at AdventhHealth Orlando is a labor of love for Hillmon because it’s the same hospital he was born in. Now, he works to make sure it’s ready for anything and ready for all patients, even babies due during hurricane season.
“With the hurricane that we had last year, we delivered 11 babies,” he explained. “We had an open-heart surgery during the storm.”
“Our ORs, for example, have to maintain a very specific humidity setting, and that can’t change during a storm, even if power goes out. So, we have over 20 generators on this campus that help to make sure that we’re able to maintain all of the facility infrastructure and readiness that we would have on any given day,” Hillmon said.
UCF Lake Nona Hospital opened in 2021, and CEO Wendy Brandon says it was designed with healing and safety in mind, right down to Category 4 rated windows. Brandon said “emergencies don’t wait during a hurricane.”
“We wanted lots of natural light. We think light helps in the healing process. But during a hurricane, that can be a little daunting when you have all this glass. So, we had to make certain that we could keep our patients safe while also creating the right environment on the inside and the outside,” Brandon said.
Having weathered several storms at several locations, these leaders say each campus has specific needs.
“We have campuses where we immediately start with the sandbags and the Tiger Dams and those things. We have other facilities where we immediately start addressing parking garages and landscaping and all those sort of things,” Hillmon said.
Whether it’s homes or hospitals, construction is impacting where water flows. It makes the fight against flooding a battle of vigilance.
“We (UCF Lake Nona) are a growing hospital under construction frequently, so you have to be prepared. Close down your construction site and button everything up to keep us all safe,” Brandon explained.
Campuses near bodies of water or in low-lying areas are especially vulnerable. In 2022, flood waters from Hurricane Ian hit AdventHealth Kissimmee and HCA Lake Monroe Hospitals.
“This last year, we were able to deploy Tiger Dams to that location, we didn’t have any water intrusion at all,” Hillmon said.
“HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital is right on Lake Monroe. And they have put in Tiger Dams more than once and it has saved their property and kept access for patients for that important health care they need,” Brandon said.
Cheryl Whitmer of U.S. Flood Control, which owns Tiger Dams, says the product has gained popularity for its efficacy and range of options.
“It’s basically a long tube that you fill up with water. They interlock together so you can run them seamlessly for miles and they’re stackable so we can hit almost any height that’s required for most floods,” she said. “The system is engineered to go as high as 32 feet.”
Hospital leaders say employees train year-round for emergency events at both systems. Everyone is pre-assigned to Team A or Team B, ready to serve or standby to relieve each other. Many times, staff must bunk at the hospital until the storm passes.
“It takes a special kind of person to be in health care. We walk away from our families and come here to take care of other people’s families. And I’m so proud of the team of people I work with, but really everyone in our industry that are willing to do that,” Brandon said.