Lawmakers seek to bolster hospitals in hurricanes
They look to budgets and building codes to make medical facilities stronger.
By CARRIE JOHNSON
Published February 18, 2005
Hurricane Charley's 145-mph winds and 10-foot waves had barely subsided when a frantic call went out for 200 ambulances.
Charlotte County's three hospitals had lost power and were seriously damaged. Hundreds of patients would have to be taken to Manatee, Hillsborough and other counties. Large, white tents were erected in the hospital parking lots to care for emergency cases.
"Everybody worked through the night," said Danielle Dreher, a spokeswoman for Charlotte Regional Medical Center, the hardest hit hospital. "Unfortunately, we were at ground zero."
Hospitals are the first line of defense during a hurricane, but throughout Florida last year they were unprepared for the battering winds and heavy rains.
Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart lost its roof. The doctors' office next to West Florida Hospital in Pensacola was demolished. In Arcadia, high winds blew out the second and third story windows at DeSoto Memorial Hospital.
Baptist Hospital in Pensacola lost its water and sewer systems along with its roof.
"We had doctors carrying red plastic bags filled with waste outside to throw it away," said Karen Smith, hospital spokeswoman. "That really had a very unpleasant impact on all of us."
Now state officials are searching for ways to keep them open and operating during hurricanes.
Rep. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, wants to set aside $25-million for nonprofit hospitals pummeled by the storms. The fund would be distributed and managed by the state Agency for Health Care Administration, Negron said.
"Hospitals are really the bedrock of every community," Negron said. "I think there's a responsibility for the state to help in their recovery."
But that might require changing building codes, said Skip Gregory, AHCA's director of construction. Most of the problems were caused by roof damage and water intrusion, Gregory said.
"Unlike Hurricane Andrew, these storms were not as significantly strong," Gregory said. "So we didn't see the kind of catastrophic structural damage that we saw back then."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency found similar problems when it surveyed damaged hospitals, said spokesman Butch Kinerney.
"Structurally, hospitals performed well," Kinerney said. "The significant damage resulted from water intrusion due to roofs coming off and rooftop equipment failure."
In Florida, most critical facilities - hospitals, police and fire stations, emergency operations centers - are supposed to withstand at least 15 percent stronger winds than other structures. But because wind codes vary across the state, building strength also varies.
A damage survey by ACHA found most of the facilities with problems had roofs that didn't meet the strict building codes adopted in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, Gregory said.
Many had roofs with a rubber membrane that wasn't securely anchored. High winds lifted the membrane, inflating it like a balloon before peeling it back.
With the membrane gone, water poured in, soaking insulation and causing ceilings to collapse. At one hospital, the flooding was so bad that doctors and nurses had to wade through ankle-deep water, Gregory said.
Also troublesome was the gravel used to anchor the rubber membrane at many hospitals. The gravel would fly off the roof and damage windows, cars and anything else in its path.
These problems could have been avoided if the hospitals were built under the codes adopted after Hurricane Andrew, Gregory said. For example, Bon Secours-St. Joseph Hospital in Port Charlotte followed the stricter codes when it built an addition. It wasn't damaged at all during Charley, Gregory said.
Another significant obstacle was electricity.
While most hospitals have emergency generators, they typically power vital systems, such as ventilators, oxygen and other life-support equipment, as well as the lights needed to navigate the hospital, Gregory said.
The generators won't run the air conditioning - a necessity during steamy Florida summers.
"If you don't have air conditioning, it makes it very difficult to treat patients," Gregory said.
Without air-conditioning, hospitals quickly grew susceptible to mold, making conditions even less suitable.
The solution is to change the building codes to require renovations to meet the stricter codes, Gregory said. Under current regulations, only new structures have to comply with the stricter codes.
"The big problem is money," Gregory said. "If the money was available, all hospitals would love to upgrade their facilities."
Negron said he hadn't considered requiring the hospitals that receive state money to follow the stricter building codes but would look into it.
Rebuilding already is under way at most of the storm-struck hospitals. Charlotte Regional had to demolish one building and rebuild it, and replace the roof on its main patient tower. Baptist Hospital in Pensacola is updating its windows and roofs. Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte is rebuilding its fourth floor, which was destroyed by water intrusion.
"We could always use more help," said Trent Lind, Fawcett's associate administrator. "The more the better."
Carrie Johnson can be reached at cjohnson@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.