Following a mortal storm that swept Texas this week, widespread power outages and water problems impacted millions of people in the state. Hospitals suffered, with some having to restrict water use and transport patients to other facilities.
St. David’s HealthCare said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday that its South Austin Medical Center lost water pressure and was restricting water use.
The city of Austin is now under a boiling water warning due to a power outage at The Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, the largest water treatment plant in the city, and drops in water pressure “below minimum standards”.
According to St. David’s HealthCare, the South Austin Medical Center incident command team was distributing bottles and jars of water to patients and staff to drink and wash their hands. The hospital was also losing heat because water is fed into the facility’s boiler.
The incident command team was working with the city on a solution and was working to find “a transportation solution to take patients who may be discharged home safely”.
In addition to these measures, the hospital was working to get water trucks and portable toilets, and was canceling all non-emergency procedures. “Through our national partner, HCA Healthcare, we can guarantee and provide the food, bedding, medicines and supplies needed to care for and serve our patients,” said the statement.
The hospital, which currently has just under 300 patients, transported the most needy patients – about 5% of patients – to other hospitals, according to the statement. St. David’s added that “because this is a statewide emergency situation that is also affecting other hospitals in the Austin area, no hospital currently has the capacity to accept the transport of large numbers of patients.”
According to The Texas Tribune, Ascension Seton hospitals in Austin were also affected. A hospital spokesman said “extreme weather conditions have caused intermittent water problems at various Ascension Seton facilities”.
And Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin asked patients not to bathe and use hand sanitizer due to problems with water pressure, the KUT radio station reported. In a letter to patients obtained by the station, the hospital also said that bathrooms cannot be released and that bedding is being changed only when necessary.
CBS News caught up with these and other Texas hospital systems in areas affected by the winter storm.
Austin is just a city that is struggling with the aftermath of the storm. As of Thursday morning, hundreds of thousands were still without power across the state, according to poweroutage.us, and authorities ordered 7 million people to boil tap water before drinking it, the Associated Press reported. .
In the city of Arlington, two major hospitals – Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital and Medical City of Arlington – were suffering from water pressure problems, CBS DFW reported on Wednesday.
Blake Kretz, president of the Texas Health Arlington Memorial, sent a statement to CBS DFW saying that “consistently cold and sub-zero temperatures” were causing “significant water pressure problems throughout Arlington,” and the hospital was providing water bottled for patients and staff.
“The Texas Health Arlington Memorial security, protection and emergency management teams are working diligently to keep vital hospital functions available to those in need,” the statement said.
“The hospital will work together with the Arlington Fire Department to obtain additional water resources,” he continued. The Arlington Fire Department sent a fire truck to provide water pressure at the Arlington Memorial, CBS DFW reported.
In a statement to CBS DFW on Wednesday, the medical city of Arlington said it was also affected by the city’s water pressure problems and had “multi-day bottled water available to our patients and staff”. The hospital was working with the city and the fire department to provide additional water.