UF Health Flagler Hospital Cares for more than 150 Patients throughout Hurricane Matthew While Sheltering Hundreds of Staff, Doctors and Families

As the only hospital located within a forty mile radius, closing its doors is not an option for UF Health Flagler Hospital. Situated directly on the Intracoastal waterway in St. Augustine, Florida, members of this 335 bed hospital’s incident command team have been drilling for years, for what frighteningly became a reality last Thursday.
“We truly serve as a safety net hospital for our community. In times of medical crisis, people have nowhere to go but here, so our goal is always to keep our services safe and available to everyone in need,” says President & CEO Joe Gordy. “We have always known that should a hurricane come our way, evacuation and closing would likely not be an option, so we have planned – both structurally and operationally – to be prepared. Thankfully, it all played out exactly as planned over the course of the past four days.”

Knowing that its Emergency Care Center’s location was at risk of flooding, the hospital moved its entire ER operation to the second floor early Friday morning and continued to receive patients by ambulance until the roads were no longer passable.

In addition to the nearly 150 patients who were still in the hospital when the eye of Hurricane Matthew slammed the first coast, UF Health Flagler Hospital coordinated in-house shelter arrangements for two shifts of clinical staff, physicians to cover all the needed specialties, 90 adult family members, 209 children and 79 dogs, cats and birds. The hospital successfully pre-planned to feed hot meals to approximately 1,000 people, 3 times a day.

“Joe and I could not be more proud of our team and the work that was carried out over the course of the past 4 days to keep our patients, our staff and their families safe. All the planning we have done over the years truly paid off,” added Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Jason Barrett. “Most importantly, our entire staff, from food service, to nursing, to the executive team, tirelessly brought their “A” game to the table to ensure our patients were cared for and safe. UF Health Flagler Hospital’s critical role in this community was certainly affirmed over the course of the past few days, and we are committed to always being here for our community in all times of crisis.”