North Shore LIJ's Reaction to Hurricane Irene

The North Shore LIJ hospital system has evacuated patients from Southside and Staten Island University Hospital. The hospital system has issued the following information about what its facilities will be doing as a result of :

At North Shore-LIJ’s other facilities throughout Long Island, Queens and Manhattan, North Shore-LIJ has already instituted a range of contingency plans, including:

• Cancelling all elective surgeries for Friday and Monday at all of its facilities, as well as all outpatient visits on Monday as part of an effort to reduce the number of patients in the hospitals during the storm;

• Advising all patient caregivers and other essential personnel who are reporting to work on Saturday night to be prepared to stay beyond their normal work shifts in case their colleagues are unable to relieve them on Sunday.

• Gathering sufficient food, water, linen and other supplies that will meet the needs of facilities through the middle of next week;

• Ensuring that all hospitals and long-term care facilities have a sufficient number of power generators, portable air conditioners and other emergency equipment that will be needed in the event of power outages;

• Securing all construction sites to avoid flying debris, and stopping all construction throughout North Shore-LIJ facilities by Saturday morning.

The  said it is asking people who want to check on the location and/or condition of patients evacuated from Staten Island University Hospital or Southside to call the following number for information:  

855-IRENE99 or 855-473-6399.