Texas Children's Staff Put Patient Needs First

Tropical Storm Allison left her mark on Houston, but Texas Children's Hospital employees rose to the challenge of caring for a community hit by the worst flooding in years.

The week was unprecedented for institutions within the Texas Medical Center. Texas Children's Hospital operated under two disaster alerts during a six-day period.

"It was an unusual week," said Mark A. Wallace, president and chief executive officer for Texas Children's. "We had more than 20 inches of rainfall within a 48-hour period. The water levels were the highest in Texas Medical Center history. Certainly, I can't think of a time Texas Children's has had two disaster alerts in the same week."

Pat Perry, vice president for information services and the hospital's administrator on call for the week, issued the first alert at 6:40 p.m. June 5 when it appeared inclement weather might impact patient care by preventing employees from getting to work. Many employees remained on duty or in the area during the storm while hospital administrators monitored the situation from the hospital's command center.

After weather conditions improved, Texas Children's canceled the alert at 7:30 a.m. June 6.

It was merely the calm before the real storm. After rain pounded the area June 8, Perry and other leaders called an alert at 8:30 p.m. It was soon upgraded to a full disaster alert.

As flash flooding continued in the medical center, Texas Children's again set up a command center in Abercrombie before a power outage hit the building. At that point, it relocated to the fourth floor of the West Tower.

Hospital management worked with local emergency agencies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure the ongoing care of patients and the safety of patients, family and staff. At the same time, Texas Children's appealed to the community for food, water, pumps and other necessities. The response was overwhelming and heartwarming.

The alert was lifted by the afternoon of June 11. Although it was a challenging weekend, Texas Children's employees distinguished themselves by their commitment.

"What stands out was the way our staff members responded," said April Catterton, clinical operations director for Texas Children's Home Health Services. "Many of them didn't know if their own homes were flooding, but they stayed anyway. They put patients' needs above their own."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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