UMMC issued the following statement.
Most
University of Mississippi Medical Center clinics at the Jackson Medical
Mall, relocated last week due to the city’s water pressure problems,
will begin reopening on Tuesday.
Patient
care ranging from pain management to kidney dialysis to chemotherapy
and radiation was moved from the Medical Mall off Woodrow Wilson Avenue
beginning Jan. 4 after dozens of city-maintained water pipes burst,
causing low pressure that prevented toilets from flushing and rendered
inoperable the Medical Mall’s heating pumps. A number of treatment
procedures, including dialysis and chemotherapy infusion, depend on a
constant, clean water supply.
Hundreds of Medical Mall patients were seen through Monday
on the main campus, at UMMC’s University Physicians Belhaven location,
and at a number of UMMC clinics spread throughout the metro.
Rising pressure that adequately revived the Medical Mall’s boilers and restored water service on Monday
means UMMC’s clinics can slowly reopen, said Dr. Jonathan Wilson, chief
administrative officer. Patients will be notified where to go for their
appointments as necessary.
UMMC’s
main campus has its own water wells and tower and isn’t affected by the
city’s water challenges. Other UMMC facilities in Jackson, such as
clinic space at Select Specialty off Ridgewood Road, the Medical Tower
on Woodrow Wilson, Lakeland Medical Building on Lakeland Drive, and
gastroenterology services in the UP Belhaven building on North State
Street, had enough heat, water pressure and available toilets to remain
open.
“Everybody
from the providers and clinic staff to schedulers and facilities to the
unit leaders and administrators are showing great teamwork,” Wilson
said. “We’re putting our patients’ needs first to continue
life-sustaining treatments and operations, even under extreme
conditions.”
Many
employees, not just at the Medical Mall but campus wide, have worked
extended hours to ensure all patients get the services they need. “They
are doing an awesome job,” Wilson said. He and a team of administrators
and department managers toiled around the clock to find temporary room
for relocated clinical services.
Those
affected included dozens of Medical Mall outpatients whose weekly
dialysis treatments were moved to the Adult Hospital’s Artificial Kidney
Unit – expanded on Friday to grow from a 15-patient capacity to 38 as of Saturday.
Alice
Luckett, UMMC clinical director of dialysis, sold her tickets to last
weekend’s New Orleans Saints playoff game so that she could spend Saturday and Sunday taking care of the influx of patients.
“I guess I was the interior decorator,” Luckett joked Friday
as UMMC Physical Facilities converted available space in the unit to
six additional dialysis stations. Up to three patients instead of the
usual one got their treatments in each permanent dialysis station, and a
dozen or more waited their turn, but no one was complaining.
“There
was no other option for these patients. No one else can accommodate
this number,” said Ryan McMillan, director of adult nursing services.
“We’ve gone to a 24-hour operation.”
The
same creativity by necessity ruled the day across campus. At the
radiation oncology department on the basement level of the main campus,
staff Monday
prepared to see 55 to 65 patients – 30 of them diverted from the
Medical Mall. “We usually split that number in half between the two
locations, but all of them are here today,” said Dr. Vijay Vijayakumar,
professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology.
About 20 radiation oncology employees temporarily relocated to the main campus. The service on campus usually operates from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; on Monday, it was 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., or until every patient is seen.
“We’re
very fortunate to have top-notch providers and employees that are
flexible and willing to work in non-traditional areas for extra late
hours,” Wilson said.
Those moved include Brookhaven resident Billy Jinks, who Monday
received his 37th radiation treatment for prostate cancer. “It wasn’t a
problem,” Jinks said of switching locations. “As long as we get the
treatment, everything’s fine.”
Among other clinics – and employees – temporarily moved, and patients notified:
The
Cancer Institute’s infusion and chemotherapy services moved to the
short-stay procedure area in the Adult Hospital. The Cancer Institute’s
clinics also shared space at UP Belhaven.
Adolescent
medicine, general pediatrics, and complex pediatric services have been
shuffled between campus and the Children’s of Mississippi north Jackson
clinic.
Psychiatry, pain management and hematology services moved to the Pavilion.
High-risk OB-GYN patients were being seen at the Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants.
Also, a portion of Division of Information Services staff set up quarters in the Student Union conference room.
Even
the new School of Medicine education building is in the mix. An area
designed to teach medical students with simulated patients was evaluated
as a site for a temporary clinic space, if the need arises.
UMMC
last week delivered bottled water to Medical Mall employees and
patients and brought a water tanker to the Mall parking lot to help ease
the crisis. Patients and employees were still left shivering, a key
factor in the decision to move or reschedule most services.
The
only use of the city’s water system on the main campus is for fire
suppression. “The biggest risk is that if we lose pressure on campus,
fire hydrants would be dry,” Wilson said. “We’ve coordinated a plan with
Jackson, Madison, Flowood, Pearl and Clinton to shuttle in fire trucks
and tankers of water and help us with firefighting and support.”
She
had to drive an extra six or seven minutes to the main campus for
thrice-weekly dialysis treatment, but Demetra Hamblin of Jackson was
grateful for the care. “I got a call to tell me to come to the hospital
instead today,” she said Friday.
High
blood pressure has left her left kidney struggling to function.
Usually, she watches television or naps during treatment at the Medical
Mall, but even in the midst of much more noise and beeps than she’s used
to, Hamblin cat-napped.
The
close quarters weren’t all bad. “Today, I met him and we talked,”
Hamblin said of a gentleman just a few feet from her chair. “I got a new
friend today.”
No comments:
Post a Comment