Holy Cross launched into Hurricane Preparation mode on June 1st – the beginning of Hurricane Season in Florida; and on Wednesday, September 1 – four days before Frances eventually made landfall two counties to the north – they were ready! The Leadership Team held meetings for several consecutive days to prepare the entire Holy Cross family and facilitate communication about the execution of their Hurricane Plan.

Bob Mosley puts up shutters at Holy Cross Hospital

In addition to securing the physical plant, Jim Boote, Sr. Vice President/Chief Operating Officer and Deborah Saylor, Sr. Vice President/ Chief Nursing Officer contacted Disaster Aid to Stricken Hospitals (DASH) early, building on lessons learned just a few weeks earlier post-Hurricane Charley on Florida’s west coast. Department heads were assigned responsibilities from overseeing staffing, admissions, child care, games and entertainment, meals, sleeping accommodations of associates, on call physicians, VIPs and all their respective family members.

Inside Edition interview parents of twins born during Hurricane Frances at Holy Cross Hospital.

Team A was ready for the worst as they checked in on Friday morning. Fortunately their plant held together well. They optioned to go on generator power to avoid the surges from Florida Power & Light. All services were available; in fact emergency open-heart surgeries were performed during the storm. Patients were transferred from their Mercy Manor Nursing Home to the hospital and settled into a comfortable and quiet space in the Outpatient Center. Moms-to-Be in their last month of pregnancy were encouraged by their doctors to be at the hospital in case the low barometric pressure would trigger their labor, and the result was a “Baby Bonanza,” which was greater than any other hospital’s in the area and led to Holy Cross’ guest appearance on Inside Edition, television’s longest running news magazine.

Members of Team B, the Recovery Team, were called in to report to work after the 9 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center on Sunday morning, allowing the exhausted yet exhilarated Team A to return to their homes. “Holy Cross was at its best, people did whatever they needed to do to make the patient’s experience a safe and positive one,” said John C. Johnson, President & CEO. “Extraordinary times require extraordinary efforts and our Teamwork was spectacular.”