As our community begins the recovery phase following Hurricane Irma’s impact, Baptist Health South Florida continues to care for patients and will begin the process of returning to full service across the region over the coming days.
“For us, getting ready for the storm is not putting up shutters or storing enough water to drink — it’s getting ready to take care of the patients who are going to come in before, during and after the storm,” said Wayne Brackin (pictured above), executive vice president and chief operating officer at Baptist Health. “And we’ve got the greatest people in the world who do that.”
More than 3,000 employees and partners, including nurses, doctors, chefs, environmental staff, administrators and other clinical crews have worked at Baptist Health facilities during the storm. (Click here for more updates [1] on Baptist Health facilities.)
As Hurricane Irma made its approach through the Caribbean earlier in the week, forecasters were predicting a direct impact from a Category 5 storm on South Florida, along the east coast. But by Friday, Irma drifted further west than expected, making landfall through the lower Florida Keys, before heading northward along Florida’s west coast.
“We’re going to pick up the debris, clean up the landscape and fix the signs,” says Mr. Brackin. “I want to say thank you to the resilient community we live in and Irma for being gone.”
Watch Mr. Brackin’s update below. (Video by George Carvalho)