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Woodhull hospital evacuating patients in Brooklyn after storm-related power failure
By
Sophia Chang
and
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Sep 30, 2023
Modified Sep 30, 2023
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Sophia Chang/Gothamist
By
Sophia Chang
and
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Sep 30, 2023
Modified Sep 30, 2023
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More than 100 patients are being transferred from Brooklyn’s Woodhull Hospital to other facilities Saturday after the hospital lost power from Friday's torrential rains, officials said.
New York City Health + Hospitals, the city’s public hospital system, announced the facility lost power Friday and had to switch to a backup generator. The utility company Con Edison said the hospital would have to shut down that generator too in order to make repairs, which could take several days.
“Those transfers started with critical patients yesterday," said Mayor Eric Adams during a press conference Saturday at the hospital. "We were extremely sensitive, we did not want family members to hear that their loved ones were being transferred publicly without us communicating with them first."
About five patients in the intensive care unit and a dozen people in the birthing center were transferred first, said Dr. Eric Wei, senior vice president for Health + Hospitals, at the press conference. The remaining patients will be transferred as hospital officials locate beds for them at other facilities and alert their families, Wei said.
“We made the attempt to notify immediate family members to let them know that we're going to be transferring your loved ones,” Adams said.
But Shermane Austin of Bergenfield, New Jersey arrived distraught at the hospital Saturday afternoon, looking for her daughter.
Austin said her daughter was admitted to Woodhull earlier this week for unspecified medical reasons, but the hospital didn’t call her or other family members about the evacuation – instead, a friend in California got the call and had to notify her.
“They didn't tell the family that she was being removed,” Austin said. “So the concern is where the hell is she?”
Hospital staffers told Austin they would help her track down her daughter.
Patients have been moved to other nearby city hospitals like Bellevue and Kings County, Wei said, but he acknowledged that some patients have been transferred as far as Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx and Queens Hospital in Fresh Meadows.
While the hospital’s electrical infrastructure was damaged the facilities did not flood, said Health + Hospitals spokesperson Christopher Miller.
“We are prepared to activate a full evacuation plan and transfer all patients to other hospitals or post-acute facility in our health system,” said Woodhull’s CEO Gregory J. Calliste in a statement Saturday afternoon.
The extent of the electrical damage was still being assessed and there was no timeline given for when patients can return, said Manny Saez, vice president of facilities for Health + Hospitals, at the press conference.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Michelle Bocanegra
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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