Prior to the arrival of Hurricane Irma, preparations at Columbus Regional Health were underway. Deemed as one of the worst storms to hit the United States since 1935, Hurricane Irma commanded national attention for days. As one of 14 regional coordinating hospitals in the state of Georgia, CRH has first-line responsibility to manage the emergency response activities for all participating hospitals, senior citizen care facilities, physicians’ offices and other medical service organizations in a 16-county region of the state.  
 
“The hours of emergency preparation we do every month, all year long, really pays off when we encounter something like Hurricane Irma,” said Terry Parish, Director of Regulatory Compliance. Parish leads the emergency response efforts of Midtown Medical Center, Northside Medical Center, the John B. Amos Cancer Center, Spring Harbor and the related medical properties of CRH.  He also is the current Region I coordinator for the Georgia Healthcare Coalition, placing him in a critical leadership role for 16 surrounding counties during times of crisis.
 
During this week’s intense storms that ravaged parts of Florida and surrounding states, Parish and CRH opened its state-of-the art Command Center that became the hub of its storm responses.  Within hours of the storm’s arrival, CRH was asked to take on emergency responsibilities for an additional 17 counties in Region K, due to damage and loss of electricity to many of that Region’s facilities.
 
For two days, CRH was the primary coordinating hospital for an expanded 33-county area that included the counties of Troup, Meriwether, Harris, Talbot, Taylor, Macon, Dooly, Crisp, Muscogee, Chattahoochee, Marion, Schley, Stewart, Webster, Quitman, Clay, Randolph, Terrell, Sumter, Lee, Worth, Colquitt, Brooks, Thomas, Grady, Decatur, Seminole, Miller, Early, Calhoun, Dougherty, Baker and Mitchell.
 
“Our training, communications systems, procedures and personal relationships with other first responders and medical facilities across the state of Georgia allowed us to respond like we did this week,” Parish said.
 
Besides the wide-spread work performed for all the outlying counties, CRH’s nurses, physicians and support staff cared for the following:
 
·         Seven babies who were transferred to the area’s only neonatal intensive care unit at Midtown Medical Center from Savannah, Ga.

·         Two patients who were transferred from Brunswick, Ga.

·         Three patients who were transferred from Albany, Ga.

·         30 patients who visited our emergency and trauma center directly related to Hurricane Irma

·         10 patients who were transferred to Northside Medical Center to keep the emergency and trauma center available for traumas and other events.
 
Additionally, the Volunteer Services and Community Outreach Department of CRH established a child-friendly space and coordinated efforts that served about 30 CRH employee families with over 50 children during the storm. Employee volunteers logged a collective of over 260 hours of service during the project.  In addition to providing childcare for employees, CRH provided sleeping quarters for employees who were not able to travel safely during the weather event.
 
Laura Drew, Senior Vice President of Operations and Quality at Columbus Regional Health, said “We came together at a time of need, and saw human kindness at its best.” Drew served as the primary internal point-of-contact at CRH to accumulate and distribute essential internal operations information that kept employees up to date on new developments and CRH’s responses. Her responsibilities also included shifts in personnel, incoming patient loads, feedback from shelters, moving of resources and coordinating the efforts of 3,000 employees during storm conditions.
 
“The event required tremendous coordination and communication with many stakeholders which included frequent conference calls, emails, and meetings.  The display of teamwork and caring from our employees, physicians and volunteers made me proud to be an employee of Columbus Regional Health,” said Drew.
 
Columbus Regional Health also provided critical support in Columbus by providing medical assistance to evacuees from Florida as they fled from the storm and came to the city seeking shelter.  CRH established a clinic through a partnership with the American Red Cross at the Columbus Civic Center and treated the medical needs of over 300 evacuees. The CRH team worked from Saturday, September 9 through Tuesday, September 12 by alternating the services of 25 physicians from the local medical community, medical students, pharmacists and nurses.
 
CRH also provided its Mobile Unit, a specially-equipped former bus that has been retrofitted with an observation room, treatment room, administrative area and medical supplies, to the Civic Center. Over 50 evacuees were seen and treated in the unit.
 
Many others were served by direct access to the Outpatient Pharmacy at Midtown Medical Center. The pharmacy filled prescriptions and delivered medications directly to those in need at the Civic Center. The service not only provided immediate aid to those patients but also preserved space in CRH’s Emergency Trauma Center, the region’s only Level II emergency response center, at Midtown Medical Center, in case it was called upon for incoming emergency cases during the storm.
 
“From a healthcare delivery perspective, natural disasters like this storm present very real challenges to everyone in the communities they impact. Patients, family members, visitors, neighbors and employees are all effected,” said Scott Hill, president and CEO of Columbus Regional Health.  “That’s why it’s critical for the employees of Columbus Regional Health to be prepared to do what they do best – provide compassionate, professional, effective medical service as well as promote the health and healing of our patients -- even during unstable and dangerous times like this storm presented.”