Hospital staff sleep over as Pittsburgh-area facilities stay open through snowstorm

ERs remain fully operational despite hazardous conditions.

By JUSTIN VELLUCCI
TribLive

While emergency-room traffic Sunday remained on the slower side in Pittsburgh- area hospitals, hundreds of doctors and nurses were preparing to spend the night in these facilities to ensure the injured and ailing had access to health care in the midst of record-breaking snowfall.

It’s difficult to pinpoint how many physicians and health care workers were set to sleep Sunday night in Allegheny Health Network hospitals — but some facilities were prepared to house up to 40 staffers, Dr. Ezz-Eldin “Dean” Moukamal, the health care system’s chief quality officer, told TribLive.

UPMC estimated that hundreds of staffers were staying overnight in their hospitals.

Neither health care network was reporting service problems or widespread cancellations and closures, as of 6 p.m. Sunday.

AHN facilities — which include more than 600 sites and 14 hospitals with 2,500 beds — have not been negatively impacted by the storm, Moukamal said.

“All of our hospitals are fully operational, our ERs are accessible and our teams are fully staffed,” he said. “Our teams have been coordinating for the last 24 hours … to ensure that all services are kept.”

Teams within the UPMC system, which boasts more than 800 outpatient sites and 40+ hospitals with 8,500 beds, “are reporting no major operational issues related to the storm,” UPMC spokeswoman Cyndy Patton told TribLive Sunday afternoon.

All UPMC emergency departments also “remain open and fully operational, though patient volume is lower than usual, likely because community members are staying safely indoors,” Patton added.

Emergency-room doctors in AHN hospitals have not seen significant increases in weather-related slip-and-fall injuries or respiratory issues tied to overexertion in the snow, Moukamal said.

“Typically, that happens later in these storms,” he said. “We are preparing for the next 24, 48 hours to see an increase in patients.”

Neither health care system reported problems Sunday with ambulances or other first responders’ vehicles getting to their facilities.

AHN specifically works with third-party contractors to supplement municipal efforts to clear snow and ice around their hospitals and medical sites.

“They’re helping ensure the parking lots are salted, the walkways are salted and clean,” Moukamal said.

Some AHN outpatient services, such as non-emergency doctor visits, will be provided virtually Monday, he added. But no sites have been closed preemptively.

Several individuals with specific health care needs — for examples: dialysis treatments, chemotherapy or the delivery of oxygen tanks or blood supplies — were addressed before the snow started falling late Saturday.

“Where it’s appropriate, we’re offering virtual visits,” Moukamal said. “But we want to ensure that patients who do show up can get their services.”