HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - More than two dozen of the tiniest victims affected by Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic damage are being evacuated to South Florida hospitals to receive lifesaving medical care.
Memorial Healthcare System has opened their doors to take in babies from neonatal intensive care units of some of the hardest hit areas from the strike zone in Southwest Florida.
“It’s bad enough to have the stress of a sick baby in the hospital, and then with having a catastrophe of this size on top of that, it’s unthinkable,” said Dr. Ronald Ford, the chief medical officer at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
Officials with the healthcare system said they received a call that 67 Southwest Florida NICU patients needed urgent care due to damaging conditions like flooding and infrastructure failures at their local hospitals.
“The babies that are being transferred are either very premature or very sick or both,” said Ford.
The most critical babies will be transferred by helicopter, while others will be brought by ambulance.
But due to space, officials with Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital said they can only accommodate up to 22 babies across their three NICU units.
Ford said the babies who have already made the journey are in stable condition.
“I can’t even imagine what these families are experiencing with the devastation in their area and the loss of property and access to water, no electricity,” he said, “so we’re going to take the best care of these babies until the parents are going to be able to join them here.”
Baptist Health South Miami Hospital is also accepting NICU patients from Florida’s west coast. As of Friday evening, the hospital has taken in two babies, but the hospitals medical director, Dr. Jorge Perez, said they’re prepared to receive more.
“We’re trying to accept as many patients as we can,” he said. “We currently have accepted, I think, another two are in route right now.”
Saturday moorning, a spokesperson for Nicklaus Children’s Hospital confirmed five NICU babies and two other young patients have been transferred there from Golisano Children’s Hospital in Fort Myers.
Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is putting up the baby’s parents in hotels and providing support services.
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