Park Slope’s hospital lends a helping hand
Disbelief and grief caused havoc for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, But one Park Slope Hospital risked thier own lives before Hurricane Sandy hit to keep thier neighbors safe.
New York Methodist (NYM) a brick building, almost 100 feet above sea level, was left virtually untouched. “Today, we’re thanking our good fortune that the Hospital was unscathed by the storm,” said Mark J. Mundy, the Hospital’s president and CEO. The Hospital commenced emergency operations at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Staff members who provided direct patient care, support of patient care, and environmental and facilities management at the Hospital reported to work as usual, overnight bags and changes of clothes in tote. Many employees who lived in Manhattan arrived hours before their shifts began due to the impending MTA shutdown. Others climbed aboard shuttle buses that NYM dispatched throughout Brooklyn to bring staff members to work, even as Sandy was poised to strike. The Hospital also took in several patients who had been evacuated from New York Downtown Hospital in the hours before the bridges closed.
On Wednesday morning, the mood at NYM was both upbeat and somber. Downed trees still blocked some of Park Slope’s streets. Many of the homes of NYM employees were without power. Several staff members who live in other boroughs were yet to be able to return home. But being able to focus on helping patients was perhaps the best kind of “distraction” from the continual influx of footage filling the airwaves.
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