Somerset West residents came out in droves to help as hospital patients at Vergelegen MediClinic were evacuated in an eight-hour rescue mission in which everyone was moved to alternative hospitals as the floodwater had staff standing in almost knee-deep water.
“It was stressful for patients, but no one’s condition was compromised,” Dr Wayne Smith, Western Cape head of disaster medicine who co-ordinated the evacuation, told Weekend Argus yesterday.
Pictures show staff in ankle- to knee-deep water treating patients lined up in the corridors on their beds before the massive rescue operation, which began at about 9pm on Friday and ended only at 4am yesterday.
The hospital will remain closed to patients while the scale of the damage is assessed, according to Biren Valodia, the chief marketing officer for the MediClinic group in South Africa. He told Weekend Argus that 127 patients were evacuated and taken to other MediClinic hospitals at Cape Gate, Stellenbosch, Panorama and Cape Town.
Patients deemed by their doctors healthy enough for discharge were sent home.
Smith said he was called on Friday evening about the potential flood threat to the clinic. But by 9pm the threat had turned into the shocking reality that a full-scale evacuation was necessary.
The majority of the patients were moved to other hospitals in private transport, but those who were less stable, including those who were stretcher-bound and in intensive care, were moved by ambulances.
Smith said although space was made in state hospitals, most of the patients were taken to other private healthcare facilities. The evacuation team moved as many patients as possible to hospitals appropriate to their condition in the greater Cape Town area .
Valodia said he arrived at the hospital once the evacuation had started after struggling to get there due to severe flooding on the Somerset West Main Road. He finally arrived to find the entire hospital flooded, including the intensive care unit and emergency area.
By yesterday afternoon the floors were still wet, but the level of water had dropped significantly, he said.
All doctors with patients who had to be moved from Vergelegen MediClinic were in touch with their patients yesterday and continuing to assist with treatment. Valodia confirmed that all evacuated patients were unharmed and all were in stable condition.
Over the next few days the level of damage would be assessed, he said, but until then it was impossible to determine the cost of the damage or guess when the hospital would be able to reopen.
“Obviously our objective is to become operational again as soon as possible,” Valodia said.
The building and all equipment needed to be assessed and equipment might need to be replaced, although it was impossible to say how much had been ruined.
Smith described the evacuation as a “very unfortunate incident”, but said all concerned had definitely managed to turn around what was potentially a major disaster.
“It was stressful for patients, but it was handled very professionally and no one’s condition was compromised,” he said.
Valodia said it was touching how many people from the community came out to help in any way they could.
“People really wanted to help,” he said. “I’d really like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the community.”
Clean-up operations were already under way yesterday afternoon, involving MediClinic’s technical team and the municipality. - Sunday Argus