Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart, a 323-bed hospital in Panama City, Fla., began evacuating patients to other hospitals Oct. 11 after suffering significant structural damage by Hurricane Michael.
Officials said the hospital sustained structural and water damage during the hurricane, which hit the southern coast Oct. 10. The damage included substantial broken glass, cooling issues and plumbing issues, and halted the facility's information systems. Additionally, officials said a section of the roof above the hospital's materials management building collapsed and compromised a significant amount of the facility's supplies.
Roughly 200 patients were expected to evacuate the facility Oct. 11, including 39 patients in the hospital's intensive care unit. Those individuals and others will be transferred to hospitals in Pensacola, Fla.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Mobile, Ala., all operated by St. Louis-based Ascension. Officials said the evacuation was expected to last 48 hours.
Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart, which is owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health Services, sheltered more than 1,500 people during the storm, including more than 200 patients.
"We will also begin assessing damage to our Bay Medical Sacred Heart Beach ER with the goal of reopening it," Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart CEO Scott Campbell said in a news release. "All patients, family members, and staff are safe and patient care will continue until the last patient is transferred."
Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center, also in Panama City, said in an Oct. 11 statement on its Facebook page it is also suspending all hospital services and transferring approximately 130 patients, according to ABC News. The facility's ER will remain open.
"Until we can be certain of stable public power, water and sewage systems, our patients will be safest in our neighboring hospitals," Gulf Coast Regional said in a statement obtained by ABC News.