Hospital Patients Safe During Power Outage
Services Diverted To Other Hospitals
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Officials, doctors and patients at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital all breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday afternoon, when power came back on at about 3:45 p.m.
Until then, hospital spokeswoman Thea Gompers said, Wheeling Hospital was operating on generator power after a pair of derechos knocked out electricity to wide swaths of the city early Tuesday morning.
Even though the hospital was running on generators, Gompers said all patients inside remained safe.
Hospital patients were good on food and supplies she said. Trauma, heart attack and maternity cases were diverted to other hospitals in the area.
Wheeling Hospital limited visitation to one visitor per patient before power was restored. Gompers said this was to keep the population inside the buildings low to refrain from generating too much heat. The hospital’s public pharmacy was closed and no cases were scheduled for the operating room.
Those scheduled for outpatient procedures and doctor’s appointments were asked to call their doctor’s offices for status updates.
Meanwhile, WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital saw few problems, as storm damage was limited in Marshall County.
Marshall County Director of Emergency Management Tom Hart said around 600 residents across the county were without power as of around 9 a.m. Tuesday, and some tree branches had been downed. However, the scope of damage to Marshall County was less than what was seen to the north and south, Hart said.
"We had a few trees down overnight, and we've got around 600 without power, but so far, so good," Hart said Tuesday morning. "… We were up during the night to monitor things as the two storm fronts pushed through, but it looks like most of the heaviest, worst parts of the storms pushed north and further south of us.
"Right now, we've sent some equipment up to help in Ohio County, but that's about it," he added.
Hart said the Office of Emergency Management would be monitoring the weather as rains and occasional storms continue to roll in through mid-morning.
"We'll still have to monitor the weather, as we've still got some heavy rain and storms throughout the day today."
In Moundsville, city manager Rick Healy said the city hadn't received any calls from residents reporting problems, and that the city's street department was similarly reporting no problems.