The evacuation of 38 long-term care residents to Allen County Regional Hospital went smoothly Tuesday night, as the threat of flood continues.
Residents of Windsor Place, located near Coon Creek at 600 E. Garfield, were evacuated around 7 p.m. The hospital offered seven beds to residents with greater health care needs. The remainder slept in recliners and pull-out sofas in the hospital?s Lynn Family Conference Room.
Two patients were brought to the hospital by ambulance; the rest came in vans.
?Some of us were here in 2007 so this is the second time we?ve gone through this,? Windsor Place nurse Andrea Rogers said. ?Everything went so smooth.?
The news of the evacuation came as ACRH Board of Trustees and administrators gathered for their monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. Chief Nursing Officer Patty McGuffin left the meeting to make arrangements, while CEO Tony Thompson juggled updates to the board and phone calls.
Taking in the Windsor Place residents meant ACRH had to go on diversion and couldn?t accept additional patients, Thompson said. Chief of Staff Dr. Charles Wanker made arrangements for patients who might need to be transported to other facilities, in case floods cut off highways.
The hospital?s health clinic at 401 S. Washington also could be affected by flooding, Thompson said.
It wasn?t immediately known how long the Windsor Place residents might need to stay at the hospital. After a brief respite Tuesday afternoon into today, rains are expected to return this afternoon and continue into next week. Projections continue to change, but as of this morning the Neosho River was expected to crest at 27.8 feet. That?s slightly higher than the river level during the 2007 flood, which crested at 26.9 feet. During the flood of 1951, the river crested at 33.3 feet.
Sleeping recliners and sofas are set up in the Lynn Family Conference Room at Allen County Regional Hospital. ACRH staff quickly organized rooms for the Windsor Place residents as emergency management officials prepared for the threat of quickly rising rivers and creeks.
McGuffin said hospital staff were prepared for the evacuation, as they?d gone through a similar situation in 2007. At that time, though, Windsor Place residents were housed on the second floor of the old Allen County Hospital.
?It?s so nice that we can collaborate like this,? McGuffin said. ?I told the staff to give them whatever they need. If they need food, give them food.?
ACRH is providing space for the residents, while Windsor Place brings its own staff, medication and supplies.
Linda Milholland, administrator for Windsor Place, said residents will remain at ACRH tonight, after discussion with weather and emergency management officials, who told her 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. tomorrow will be a critical weather period.
?We?re glad we evacuated. It?s much better to be safe,? Milholland said. ?It sounds like tomorrow might be worse.?
