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Disaster ... Hurricane Preparedness ... Emergency Medicine ... Disaster... Hurricane Prep

Catholic Health Services Hurricane Ready –

Always ON
South Florida's

Monthly Last year Hurricane Irma ripped through South
Healthcare Newspaper Florida and not only devastated property but also
caused power outages that took the lives of several
PO Box 812708 residents in a nursing home in Hollywood, FL. These
Boca Raton, FL 33481-2708 tragic losses created rapid response from Tallahassee.
Phone: (561) 368-6950 Following the deaths, Governor Scott issued emer-
gency rules mandating generators at nursing homes
and assisted facilities. Nursing homes would be man-
Website: dated to have equipment that can control indoor tem-
www.southfloridahospitalnews.com peratures for 96 hours after an outage and maintain
an ambient temperature of no more than 81 degrees.
CHARLES FELIX As a proactive corporate initiative, months prior to
CAROL FELIX the Governor’s mandate, Catholic Health Services had
Publishers been on the path to equip all medical campuses,
including nursing homes, rehabilitation hospitals and
NANCY LAMMIE assisted living facilities with generators to provide full
Editor facility power.
Moving quickly, management at Catholic Health
JUDY GRAMM Services engaged architecture and engineering firms to design ities, make it the utmost priority to establish a safe and comfort-
Editorial Manager & Webmaster custom systems and plans, build required infrastructure, order, able environment for all patients, residents and clients, above
fabricate, deliver and install commercial grade, customized gen- and beyond the standard industry life safety requirements.
JMC GRAPHICS erators. Much of the ground work was completed before the “We have taken every precaution to ensure that our skilled
Art/Production end of 2017 and at this time the project has fulfilled the 100% nursing, rehabilitation hospitals and assisted living facilities
lammienancy@aol.com coverage requirement. Although there were numerous logistic remain safe and operational during and after a storm. Our pri-
412-835-5796 ority is to ensure the comfort and peace of mind for you and
and regulatory challenges to be met, all of our medical campus-
es will be fully operational and compliant with the Governor’s your loved ones. Catholic Health Services is ready to provide
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Always ON protection at our four medical campuses for any
rules ahead of this year’s hurricane season.
Daniel Casciato emergency and hurricane season.” said Joe Catania, CEO,
The leadership and staff of all Catholic Health Services facil-
Barbara Fallon Catholic Health Services.
Vanessa Orr
Lois Thomson
Cover Story: When Natural Disaster Strikes,

LOOK FOR OUR VITAS Healthcare Is Prepared
NEXT ISSUE
IN JULY Continued from page 1

TO REACH US
FOR Communication is Key
As a standard practice, all VITAS
ADVERTISING
patients in South Florida are assigned an
OR EDITORIAL emergency priority level on admission.
Call (561) 368-6950 Emergency preparedness education is pro-
vided to patients, family and staff, and a
or e-mail
care plan is developed for each patient.
carol@southfloridahospitalnews.com When the possibility of a South Florida
disaster looms, an emergency plan is acti-
vated. The core component of this plan is
communication. The senior managers of
SUBSCRIPTIONS impacted South Florida locations come
One Year $40 together to prepare. Continual phone and VITAS Healthcare employees from South Florida were glad to receive food, gas and other
text communication among the VITAS supplies after Hurricane Irma.
Two Years $60 leaders ensures that all aspects of disaster Additionally , pro-
Three Years $75 planning are covered. the VITAS digital communications teams vided affected staff with monetary assis-
A VITAS “disaster commander” is update its phone systems and online tance for food, gas and other necessary
appointed, who directs staff to speak with resources to keep South Florida patients, supplies, while co-workers opened their
To subscribe, patients and families, assesses patient families and employees informed. homes, brought hot food and helped in
call (561) 368-6950 needs and makes any necessary changes to Once the disaster has passed, recovery every way possible.
emergency preparedness plans. To facili-
or subscribe online at efforts are quickly implemented. Since Why choose VITAS for your South
tate communication when the disaster VITAS is nationwide, team members Florida patients?
southfloridahospitalnews.com. plan has been activated, the disaster com- across the country have the capability to As recently as 2017, when massive hur-
____________ mander oversees a detailed patient log, lend support to its South Florida locations ricanes Harvey and Irma impacted the
which may include evacuation steps and as needed. Sunshine State, VITAS demonstrated its
All rights reserved. Reproduction making sure patients have sufficient sup- ability to deliver compassionate, high-
in whole or part without written plies to outlast the disaster. At VITAS, we take care
permission prohibited. Copyright © 2017. quality end-of-life care during a most try-
When a South Florida disaster warning of each other ing natural disaster. VITAS has reliably
is issued, channels of communication are While assuring patient safety , VITAS served the South Florida region for 40
established between local VITAS leader- also checks on its employees. Those who years and remains dedicated to its
ship, senior management and leaders of have sustained damage, need supplies or patients and their families.
Don’t forget to include corporate departments. Throughout the are otherwise impacted by the disaster
South Florida event, decisions are made receive help. Those available for emer- Maureen Knips is Vice President of
South Florida Hospital News based on information from federal and gency assignments find out where they are Operations at VITAS Healthcare in Broward
& Healthcare Report local agencies. most needed. As quickly as possible, County. For more information about hospice
When field staff are unable to safely use
in your Marketing Plans roads, VITAS’ highly trained Telecare® VITAS returns to its regular, fully staffed care or your end-of-life care options, call
routine.
VITAS Healthcare at
staff monitor patients by phone.
Call Charles at 561-368-6950 for a Media Kit During Hurricane Irma in 2017, VITAS (866) 759-6695 or visit VITAS.com.
24 June 2018 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News