Hospitals and healthcare facilities are rescheduling appointments, stocking up on medical supplies and coordinating with maintenance crews before a brutal winter storm sweeps across two-thirds of the U.S.
The National Weather Service expects a “significant, long-duration winter storm” to travel across the country, starting in the Southwest on Jan. 23 to the Northeast by Jan. 25.
Heavy snow, “catastrophic ice accumulation” and “bitterly cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills” will begin in the Southern Plains as the storm moves northeastward, covering the Mississippi Valley, Southeast and the Northeast.
Snowfall will exceed 12 inches in some regions, creating hazardous travel conditions. Widespread freezing rain and sleet will likely prompt power outages and infrastructure damage, according to the National Weather Service.
CVS and Walgreens are reminding patients to refill and pick up prescriptions as soon as possible. Walgreens also said patients with temperature-sensitive medications, such as insulin, should review storage instructions in the event of a power outage.
Several hospitals and health systems told local news outlets they are preparing accommodations for staff, including housing and food, and setting up command centers to ensure continuity of care during dayslong power outages.
Also in preparation for power outages, Tennova Healthcare in Knoxville, Tenn., told CBS affiliate WVLT it has secured mobile backup generators with plans to keep its hospitals and emergency departments open during the storm.
With subfreezing temperatures and ice accumulation in Fort Worth, Texas, the city’s government has brined all roadways leading to hospitals.
In North Carolina, health system leaders told ABC affiliate WTVD their hospitals will remain open but added that operations at outpatient clinics could be limited. Employees at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System have contacted some infusion and dialysis patients to reschedule appointments.
UVA Health in Charlottesville, Va., is also rescheduling outpatient clinic appointments and nonurgent procedures. The four-hospital system is also working to discharge inpatients ahead of the storm to create more capacity, according to WVIR, an affiliate of NBC and The CW.
Another Virginia system, Fredericksburg-based Mary Washington Healthcare, said Jan. 23 its EDs will remain open, while it will close medical imaging locations, urgent care centers and several service lines from Jan. 24-26.
In Maryland, where snow could reach between 5 and 18 inches, Annapolis-based Luminis Health is considering rescheduling elective surgeries and delaying opening outpatient centers, according to The Baltimore Banner.
On Jan. 23, Atlanta-based Grady Health System said it will close several locations Jan. 26, including all clinics at its main hospital, neighborhood health centers, its outpatient pharmacy and urgent care center. Patients who can be seen virtually can keep their scheduled appointments on Jan. 26, and the system will reschedule elective and nonurgent procedures originally planned for that day.
ED visits are not usually busy during the height of storms like this one, but capacity often becomes strained in the days after a severe weather event, according to John Sullivan, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Pittsburgh-based St. Clair Health.
