Hospital crews step up and sleep over during weekend ice storm and blizzard

FAIRWAY, Kan. (KCTV) - Most major hospitals have room set aside year-round for staff to spend the night. ER doctors particularly take advantage, but the one-two punch of winter storms over the weekend saw a much bigger demand for staff sleeping accommodations.

There was concern that people wouldn’t be able to safely drive in or safely drive home. Local hospitals watched forecasts and began preparing early for the worst-case scenario stocking up on supplies for more than just patients.

“When we have an event like this, obviously we’re still taking care of our patients and our visitors, but we’re taking care of our staff and our providers at the same time,” said University of Kansas Health System Vice President of Hospitality Services Jeff Novorr.

The University of Kansas Health System had about 500 employees staying the night.

“That’s everybody from housekeepers to physicians and everything in between,” said Novorr.

He said that amounts to more than half of the people who were on the schedule and far more than usually sign up to stay the night during a storm.

“This is one of the largest responses we’ve had in a very long time,” Novorr said. “As everybody knows, this was a bit of an unprecedented storm for at least recent memory.”

University Health had about 265 providers and staff spend the night in designated areas that weren’t being used by patients. The Missouri National Guard provided military-grade transport for some who needed rides on the treacherous roads.

At Advent Health’s area hospitals and walk-in ambulatory ERs, the transport was more grassroots. Executive staff, like the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, became taxi drivers. Advent Health Overland Park South COO Jimmy Bolanos was one of the shuttle drivers.

“We provided over 100 rides to team to be able to bring them into the hospitals,” Bolanos said. “Additionally, folks opted to stay the night and not leave for the storms, and so we housed over 200 at our facilities, and our nutrition and environmental services departments coordinated meals and overnight kits to make their accommodations a little bit more comfortable.”

A DIFFERENT KIND OF MUTUAL AID

The Overland Park Fire Department pitched in on food duty Sunday when the hospital was running out. They learned about it from an ambulance crew.

The hospital staff usually have snacks on hand for EMS crews with Johnson County MED-ACT ambulance service. It’s a pick-me-up on days when they are on the road for hours on end.

“The ambulance crews are always on the road, always on the go, and they miss their meals quite often, and so (hospital staff) have snacks that they provide,” said Overland Park Fire Capt. Stan McDonald. “The nurses had kind of raided that area because they were hungry, and they’d  been there for most of the day, and were going to stay overnight.”

The nurses were apologetic, he said. The MED-ACT crew told the firefighters at the Overland Park Fire Department’s nearby Station 41.

“All the guys on my crew, that didn’t sit well with them, so they went ahead and made some food for them and took it over there that night,” said McDonald.

The firefighters raided their pantry and fixed up a pancake breakfast for dinner. Saturday’s ice storm had kept them busy with emergency calls. The  hospital food emergency came on a day when they had down time.

“We weren’t as busy during the blizzard, luckily, everybody kind of heeded those warnings and stayed at home, which was greatly appreciated,” McDonald said. “Because we weren’t running calls, we were able to make the food for them and help them out so in a different, a unique way.”

POSITIVITY PREVAILS

The first round of storms was freezing rain that caused ice-covered roads. Advent Health shared video of one staff member on her way in, not walking, but dance-walking to the Vanilla Ice hit Ice, Ice Baby.

Wendy Linares, part of the hospital’s environmental services team, was beaming. Part of her job is cleaning and sanitizing patient rooms. It seemed like just an upbeat bop, but when KCTV5 asked her why she was dancing, the answer revealed there was much more to it than that.

“I have a story in my life,” she said. “I lost my son to cancer 6 years ago.”

Her son was 17 when he died. He would have been 24 this month. His death taught her “de ver lo bueno,” to see the good. She said she makes the best of every day because that is what her son would have wanted. Originally from El Salvador, she also takes pleasure in knowing the value of her job.

“My job is important for this country,” she said. “The hospital, the patients, need me.”

She stays cheerful for them even though not all days are good or happy days.

“I appreciate everything, so I’m happy,” she said. “When I’m sad, I try to smile.”

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