Before Hurricane Irma hit Georgia as a Category 1 storm, hospital officials at three facilities reportedly backpedaled on their commitment to house fragile members of the community, with only one hospital admitting the number of evacuees it had previously agreed to take on, and then some, according to emails obtained by the Savannah Morning News.
The Chatham Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the planning efforts to properly evacuate local residents, reportedly emailed officials at three hospitals the morning of Sept. 6, letting officials know how many evacuees they would be responsible for, the report states.
According to documents dated Sept. 7, Savannah-based Memorial University Medical Center was responsible for 21 evacuees under CEMA's plan. St. Joseph's/Candler health system's two hospitals — St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospital, both in Savannah — were responsible for 12 evacuees and 15 evacuees, respectively. However, Memorial University Medical Center officials informed CEMA officials Sept. 8 the facility could only take on 16 patients, which became the updated plan number, according to the report.
Memorial University Medical Center admitted the 16 evacuees assigned to the hospital, along with two additional evacuees, after much urging from CEMA officials, the report states.
However, St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospital did not accept the number of evacuees CEMA initially ordered them to take. The emails revealed Candler Hospital closed and did not take on any evacuees prior to Hurricane Irma making landfall in the state, while St. Joseph's Hospital only accepted three "last-minute" cases, according to the report.
St. Joseph's/Candler officials cited "uncertainty of the force of the storm" as one of the reasons for closing the Candler facility despite news reports indicating there was "little possibility of Irma hitting Chatham County as a Category 4" storm, according to the report.
To view the full report, along with the emails obtained by the Savannah Morning News, click here.