We’re ready for mass patient evacuation if ever needed, hospital officials say

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — More than 300 hospitals, clinics, emergency departments and other healthcare centers in Florida have evacuated in advance of Hurricane Milton .

If a similar evacuation were necessary in the Hampton Roads region, plans are already in place, local and state healthcare officials say.

“Hurricanes are one of our top hazards — we plan for this,” said Kim Tempesco, director of emergency management for Sentara Healthcare. “Our staff drills for it. We practice several times a year.”

Sentara, Chesapeake Regional, Bon Secours and Riverside facilities would all work with other hospitals throughout Virginia.

“We would be making sure that we continue their care along the way so that that goes on uninterrupted, as well as the families being kept in the loop,” Tempesco said.

According to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association , which helps various hospitals work together, many hospitals have what’s known as licensed beds, in reserve.

VHHA’s Julian Walker draws the distinction between staffed beds that are already in use and licensed beds that are in reserve.

“The condition in many hospitals around Virginia is that there are more licensed beds than there are staffed beds, which means that that is another potential lever that can be pulled,” Walker said.

On a much smaller scale, the state plan is already in action after Hurricane Helene.

“A lot of assets on the state level [are in place] including in southwest Virginia, that were impacted by the high winds and heavy rains and flooding associated with Hurricane Helene,” Walker said.

Patients would be transferred but so would what’s needed to continue their care.

“If there’s specialized equipment or or staff that need to go with that patient, we can move the equipment and the staff would that patient to ensure that they’re still receiving the same level of care,” Tempesco said.

The trickiest and most difficult task for hospital emergency managers is checking bed availability as a storm is coming through in real time when that availability can change from one moment to the next.

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