Hospitals Express Gratitude for Support from Employees, Community and Partners

11/1/2022

By: Andy Romine, Chief Executive Officer of ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda

As our region continues to recover following Hurricane Ian, the caregivers, employees and leadership of ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda are deeply grateful for the tremendous support we have received from the communities we serve.

We appreciate the donations of meals and other resources for our hospital team members. The kindness of our neighbors has helped to keep our caregivers and employees going in a challenging time, through long hours.

We also are grateful for the rapid response and continued partnership of Florida Power & Light, Charlotte County Fire & EMS, National Guard and Charlotte County Emergency Management. Without this extensive network of supporters fueled by dedication, compassion and commitment to community, our work in providing medical care during and beyond this crisis would not be possible.

We are incredibly proud of our ShorePoint Health teams that have remained on duty to serve the healthcare needs of residents and others during and after the storm. Following the storm, four local hospitals had to evacuate due to storm damage and/or utility failure leaving ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte as the only access point for care in the county. For seven days, ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte was the only hospital in nearly 30 miles providing care when other facilities, including our sister hospital in Punta Gorda, were unable to accept patients.

Because of its proximity to the coast, ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda was evacuated before the storm. Patients were cared for at Port Charlotte until Punta Gorda reopened on October 1.

Additionally we were able to get all of our ShorePoint Medical Group physician offices open within five days post storm, with many still operating in temporary offices. For nine days following the storm, our ER volumes averaged 126% above pre-storm levels, and at one point we had over 200 patients in our ER at ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte. We set up walking wounded points of care to address lower acuity patients to attempt to decompress our ER. Fortunately we had the support of a National Guard unit to provide security at our entrances. In the days and weeks following the storm, we have utilized 91 FEMA RNs.

We are so proud of our caregivers for their commitment to put patients first. Most of our staff suffered damage to their homes, and like others, they struggled without power, gas for their vehicles, access to groceries, and other personal necessities. The hospital has housed nearly 280 staff members, their family members, and pets who have not been able to stay in their damaged homes. To support our employees, we brought in gasoline tankers to give employees fuel so they could get back and forth to work. We provided food care packages and secured donated scrubs for employees who have lost clothing, and we set up an on-site laundry facility.

As a result we provided:

• Over 14,000 bottles of water
• Over 2,500 food care packages for employees and their families
• Over 25,000 warm meals
• 3,600+ gallons of fuel for vehicles as all gas stations were closed in the county for over a week
• Over 1000 loads of laundry

As the difficult process of rebuilding continues for many residents in our community, we are pleased to have partnered with the American Red Cross to make the former ShorePoint Health Venice facility available as temporary housing for displaced individuals and families, and their pets.

Having been through disaster scenarios in my career, I have never worked with a team that sacrificed so much and displayed such a priority of others' needs above their own. I am so humbled by the commitment of our hospital leaders and staff. Many spent days and weeks straight in the facility, working incredible hours and sleeping on floors to ensure they were there for their community.

Thank you to our community who demonstrated yet again how resilient they are in the face of the worst storm to hit Florida in decades! Our community doesn’t need a crisis to show its strength, resilience and compassion. But our collective response to Hurricane Ian and its aftermath demonstrates a depth of those qualities that makes us proud to call Southwest Florida home.

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