Contact: Terry Lynam
Office: 516-465-2640/2600
Cell: 516-316-2389
tlynam@nshs.edu

On Wednesday, the North Shore-LIJ Health System began mobilizing its resources and activating its Emergency Operations Command Center in preparation for Hurricane Irene’s landfall this weekend. Health System senior leaders and emergency preparedness staff at North Shore-LIJ’s Center for Emergency Medical Services (CEMS) in Syosset, NY, are in constant contact with the health system’s 15 hospitals and other facilities to ensure that they have the staffing and resources they need to weather the storm.

In response to an evacuation order from the city and state, North Shore-LIJ’s 775-bed Staten Island University Hospital has begun the orderly removal of patients from its North and South campuses. Patients are being transferred and transported with appropriate clinical staff to other North Shore-LIJ hospitals and other facilities. Hospital staff began the evacuation process last night and will continue throughout the day. At North Shore-LIJ’s other facilities throughout Long Island, Queens and Manhattan, North Shore-LIJ has already instituted a range of contingency plans, including:
 

• Cancelling all elective surgeries for Friday and Monday at all of its facilities, as well as all outpatient visits on Monday as part of an effort to reduce the number of patients in the hospitals during the storm;
• Advising all patient caregivers and other essential personnel who are reporting to work on Saturday night to be prepared to stay beyond their normal work shifts in case their colleagues are unable to relieve them on Sunday.
• Gathering sufficient food, water, linen and other supplies that will meet the needs of facilities through the middle of next week;
• Ensuring that all hospitals and long-term care facilities have a sufficient number of power generators, portable air conditioners and other emergency equipment that will be needed in the event of power outages;
• Securing all construction sites to avoid flying debris, and stopping all construction throughout North Shore-LIJ facilities by Saturday morning.

ONLY PATIENTS EXPERIENCING A TRUE MEDICAL EMERGENCY SHOULD COME TO THE HOSPITAL. The health system is advising individuals on a breathing ventilator who lose power in their homes NOT to come to the hospital, but to go to the closest medical shelter – the Nassau County medical shelter is Nassau Community College. Also, patients suffering from chronic illnesses who require immediate hospitalization must bring their medications with them.

NOTE: The health system’s Public Relations Office will provide the news media with periodic updates about its emergency response efforts throughout the storm. To reach a spokesperson after hours or on the weekend, call the department’s pager at 516-975-4974 and leave a phone number where you can be reached.