We all woke up this morning to some fairly heavy rainfall once Hurricane Harvey made landfall south of us. And we’ve already heard that several of our employees have been personally affected by the damaging winds and tornadoes. We’re happy to say all are safe, but our thoughts and prayers go out to them and their families during this challenging time.
While we’re seeing a lull in rain activity right now, we still anticipate the potential for flooding in the coming days. As you know Harvey is a confusing storm, unlike any storm we’ve experienced in the last decade. At this time, we cannot announce an official ride out and recovery protocol because of the uncertainty of the storm’s track and rain patterns. Our patients remain our No. 1 priority, but we also need to be mindful of our employees’ well-being and not exhausting our resources. So, we’re asking each hospital and unit to implement a modified ride out policy. That means:
- Hospital executives throughout the system are working with managers and directors to decide employee coverage for each area tonight. Based on need, this could mean the day shift team that is in house will stay overnight, or it may mean other employees will come in at 7 p.m. to sleep and be ready for the 7 a.m. shift tomorrow.
- If a manager/director requires employees to stay in-house and sleep overnight to be ready for a dayshift tomorrow morning, they will be paid under HR’s ride out code.
- Leaders at each of our campuses are working on employee sleeping accommodations (which may be open conference rooms or break rooms), but we ask that you please bring essentials (food, sleeping bags, clothing and medication) to cover at least a few nights.
- Night shift employees should plan to bring a sleeping bag, clothes, toiletries and food for at least a few days. Please plan to leave for work early and make sure you know a safe route before driving to work. Click here to check up-to-date information on roadway closures in Houston. If you depend on public transportation, make sure it is operating as usual.
Again, due to Harvey’s uncertain weather patterns, we will make decisions on a shift-by-shift basis. That also means we will make a decision on Sunday whether the Monday OR and clinic schedules will be impacted, so please stay tuned.
Here is a link to some frequently asked questions we’ve received over the past few days. We ask you to continue to monitor local media for up-to-date weather information. Please stay safe as you come in to work. We could not do what we do for our patients without your commitment to excellence.