As the Augusta area continues to clean up from last week’s devastating hurricane, local hospitals with limited staff and resources are trying to keep up with the health care needs of residents. Some specialty services at Wellstar MCG Health and Doctors Hospital of Augusta were closed after the storm with a few reopening, and the hospitals are restricting visitors to one per patient, according to their websites.
The emergency room at Doctors Hospital is open and prepared for medical emergencies, according to an alert on its site in response to the hurricane. The hospital reopened its radiation oncology, mammography, wound care and maternal fetal medicine services, but its physician practices remain closed, the alert states. The 350-bed Doctors Hospital cited “unprecedented damage caused by Hurricane Helene. ... We’re making decisions daily on elective surgeries and are reaching out to impacted patients.”
Meanwhile MCG Health reopened its Lake Oconee clinic Wednesday, the hospital stated. Wellstar Urgent Care in Evans and Martinez will be open, but all other outpatient clinics and Wellstar Urgent Care locations in Augusta and South Augusta will remain closed, the health system reported.
Wellstar MCG Health Medical Center includes a 478-bed hospital, which includes an emergency department; the 154-bed Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia, which has a neonatal intensive care unit; and the Wellstar Georgia Cancer Center.
“Many members of our community are experiencing power outages, water shortages, home damage and flooding as a result of Hurricane Helene,” MCG Health states on its site. “Our hearts go out to those whose lives have been disrupted. We remain open and continue to care for patients through these challenges.”
Pitching in to help supplement health care workers in storm-damaged areas, the Georgia Board of Nursing voted Friday to allow out-of-state licensed practical nurses and registered nurses to work in Georgia health care facilities during the emergency if they meet certain requirements.
Some hospitals had to make adjustments as Helene moved through Georgia, including calling in medical staff before the storm so they would be available when it hit.
In Valdosta, South Georgia Medical Center staff stretched connections to ICU machines from patient rooms and through doorways to reach patients cared for in hallways, away from exterior windows.
Twice hospital staff members had to race out 200 yards to help people get to the hospital after a tree fell across the road, blocking the entrance.
Other hospitals were largely unaffected but standing by to assist if needed.
St. Mary’s Health Care System, which has facilities across Northeast Georgia, “escaped significant impacts from Helene” but ran backup generators for a few hours Friday morning at its main hospital in Athens “as a precaution due to power outages in the area, but never lost power from the grid,” Mark Ralston, spokesman for the health care system, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We were in contact with hospitals in other, more heavily affected areas such as Augusta and were ready to accept patients who needed to be evacuated, but received no patients.”
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