Updated 10/17, 1:37 p.m.
Two of the largest hospitals in the are in the process of reopening after both were forced to evacuate when threatened by the Tubbs Fire last week.
Kaiser and Sutter, with 117 beds and 84 beds respectively, were both dangerously close to the flames in the Tubbs Fire that swept into northern Santa Rosa on Monday morning, Oct. 9. As a result the two hospitals were evacuated.
Sutter reopened and became fully functional Tuesday morning, according to a Nixle report.
Kaiser is expected to reopen this week, according to officials.
A statement from Kaiser said that 130 patients were moved to Kaiser facilities in San Rafael, San Francisco and Oakland as well as other local hospitals in a variety of ambulances and buses, depending on the status of the patients. Sutter reported that it had moved 77 patients.
All of Kaiser’s appointments at the Santa Rosa Medical Center, Rohnert Park, Mercury Way and Napa medical offices had been cancelled last week, in favor of walk-up urgent care in Rohnert Park. Kaiser was also offering members video visits and telephone appointments for primary care needs.
According to a Facebook post by Senator Mike McGuire and a Kaiser statement, Kaiser is still working to reopen the hospital. The facility’s medical office buildings 1 and 2 reopened Monday morning.
“Doctors and nurses from both hospitals have been active in treating evacuees over the past week,” McGuire wrote.
Sutter faced similar issues; officials said the facility was already undergoing significant cleaning and restocking in anticipation of re-opening the hospital with a tentative goal of the middle of next week.
The hospital surpassed that goal, becoming fully functional Tuesday morning.
By Wednesday morning, two days after the fire broke loose, Healdsburg District Hospital hadn’t seen much of an increase in patients as a result of the closure of Sutter and Kaiser, though District Board Chairman Jim Nantell said the hospital and staff were ready.
“At this time we’re standing by in emergency conditions,” Nantell said. “We’ve not had an influx of demand, because when the hospitals were evacuated they couldn’t go north, so they went went south.”
US Highway 101 was shut down for most of Monday, Oct. 9 between River Road and Steele Lane after the Tubbs Fire jumped the freeway.
A week after the outbreak of the firestorm, Healdsburg District Hospital Interim CEO Joseph Harrington said on Tuesday, Oct. 17, that the hospital had never been heavily hit as a result of Kaiser and Sutter shutting down. There was however an uptick in fire-related ER visits from people with asthma and issues with smoke inhalation, he said. Otherwise, it was not patients that were a challenge for Healdsburg, but installing additional filters for the smoky atmosphere, and maintaining staff numbers, according to Harrington.
“The biggest problem was with our own employees getting to work,” he said. “There were those who had lost their homes or had them damaged or weren’t able to commute through roadblocks.”
Harrington estimated the number of hospital employees affected by the fires at around 20.
When Sonoma West Medical Center called it a night on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 8, there were just two patients in the west county hospital. By 5 a.m. Monday morning, the small Sebastopol hospital was overflowing with patients evacuating from Sutter.
“We received ambulances and busloads of patients,” said Palm Drive Health Care District president Dennis Colthurst.
The 37-bed hospital admitted 21 patients and saw 40 in the emergency department, SWMC chief nursing officer Barbara Vogelsang said. Two of the patients were in the intensive care unit, including a burn patient who was transferred to St. Francis in San Francisco.
“We had rooms doubled up and patients in the hallway,” Vogelsang said. “I’ve never seen it this busy.”
The hospital, which has struggled to keep patient census up since reopening in October 2015, rallied together to provide medical care and service to the transfers.
“For a crew that’s never been through something like this, they’re handling it admirably,” Colhurst said.
Staff is working overtime and volunteer efforts are helping the usually small-staffed hospital keep up with the fast pace and high volume.
“It’s surprised me at how nobody is complaining about having to stay and work extra,” Vogelsang said. “We’ve had people who used to work here call and ask what’s needed.”
She added that roughly 10 SWMC employees lost their homes Sunday night and Monday morning to the fire.
Kim Lewis, who works in the hospital’s peri-operative unit, was in the process of moving from Forestville to a new house on Ursuline. She had spent the weekend buying items for the new place, even putting contact paper down in shelves and cupboards.
“All of my stuff was there,” she said. “All of my mementos are gone.”
She slept in her Forestville home on Sunday night and had no idea about the oncoming fires.
“I woke up and saw Santa Rosa was on fire,” Lewis said.
In addition, Sutter Health physicians and nurses have stayed with some of their patients to ensure continuity in care, according to SWMC Chief Executive Officer John Peleuses.
Local businesses, including Lucky’s Market and Fircrest Market, have donated supplies and time.
“Fircrest brought over meats and cheese and made sandwiches,” Vogelsang said. “They’ve kept our personnel fed.”
Colthurst and Vogelsang said the hospital is running out of supplies, such as linens, but are getting reinforcements from the Sutter Health Emergency Medical Supply program and the county’s office of emergency services.
Peleuses said the hospital is keeping track of all expenses related to the Sutter transfers but noted that patient safety is the first priority for the hospital.
Families seeking information about patients who were evacuated from the Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa hospital can call at 855-599-0033. Similarly, those seeking information about patients moved from Sutter Hospital can call 866-961-2889.
