Sarasota Memorial Health Care System stood strong through Hurricane Ian and is serving a record number of patients and evacuees from the southwest Florida region. The health system’s flagship acute-care hospital and emergency/trauma center in Sarasota and the new 110-bed acute-care hospital it opened in Venice last November remained fully functional on backup generator power throughout Hurricane Ian, providing shelter for nearly 2,500 staff and physicians who served on the health system’s hurricane response team for several days this week, leaving their families and homes behind as they cared for and supported well over 700 patients throughout the storm. During the hurricane, SMH “sheltered in place,” meaning it continued to care for patients 24/7 with physicians, nurses and support staff who hunkered down and worked around-the-clock to care for patients and medically dependent persons (MDPs) that local emergency management officials brought to the hospital for shelter. (SMHCS is a designated medical shelter for MDPs, who may require hospitalization during emergency situations).

SMH assessed the condition of all of its facilities after Hurricane Ian left the Suncoast region, and most of its facilities weathered Hurricane Ian well. The health system has devoted significant funds and resources to ensuring that our hospitals are hurricane hardened, and both hospitals and its skilled nursing facility remained fully operational during and after the storm, with no injuries reported. We reopened all six of SMH’s urgent care centers and most of its physician practices and outpatient centers almost immediately after the storm passed. The only facilities sustaining significant damage were our freestanding emergency room in North Port and a medical office building at SMH-Venice. Both are closed for repairs. Despite roof damage and some water intrusion, damage inside is minimal, and SMH anticipates reopening both facilities in a phased approach starting this weekend. Most hospitals south of Sarasota on Florida’s Gulf Coast were evacuated and remained closed for several days due to damage from the storm. Sarasota Memorial’s Sarasota and Venice campuses have seen record numbers of patients streaming into their emergency care centers, and have worked closely with emergency management officials and hospitals around the state to manage the influx. After the storm passed, Sarasota County and the state dedicated strike teams with nearly 20 ambulances to help transfer patients, and on Sunday (Oct. 2), state and federal emergency officials sent a disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) to help manage the surge of emergency patients at SMH-Venice. The DMAT set up a 30-bed tent facility just outside our Venice hospital’s ambulance bay, with a team of 37 doctors, nurses, physician assistants, paramedics and pharmacists working with our Venice staff to provide 24/7 emergency and urgent care to help manage the surge. A second DMAT opened in Charlotte County, to help reduce the strain in local ERs while hospitals in that region gradually reopen.

Click here to view a recorded video with Sarasota Memorial Health Care System CEO David Verinder.