GEORGETOWN, SC (WBTW) – Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital and Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital have both temporarily suspended emergency services due to Hurricane Florence.
Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital temporarily suspended emergency services at 11:15 a.m. on Friday. Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital temporarily suspended emergency services as of 4 p.m. on Friday.
The emergency departments at both Tidelands Waccamaw and Tidelands Georgetown, which were originally ordered to close at 1 p.m. on Thursday, received special permission from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to remain open and work with local emergency responders until tropical-storm-force winds began.
The permission was granted after a request to the state from Georgetown County emergency management officials, acting in partnership with Tidelands Health. Over the intervening period, Tidelands Health emergency departments provided lifesaving care to the community.
Care was provided to dozens of individuals, including two critically ill individuals who would not have survived without emergency care. Tidelands Health plans to continue emergency services at Tidelands Georgetown until tropical-storm-force winds begin and plans to resume emergency services at both hospitals as soon as it is safe to do so.
“We continued emergency services as long as we could because people rely on their hospitals to provide care, especially during emergency situations,” said Bruce Bailey, president and CEO of Tidelands Health. “We will resume emergency services as soon as we can to support the community.”
A limited number of Tidelands Health team members, including clinicians, facilities management personnel and security officers, among others, remain on site at both Tidelands Waccamaw and Tidelands Georgetown and will facilitate resumption of services. In response to the medical evacuation order, Tidelands Health on Monday began taking steps to evacuate patients from its hospitals.
The health system has since evacuated approximately 100 patients to hospitals throughout the state. To provide for the continuity of their care, several dozen Tidelands Health nurses were relocated to the receiving hospitals.
“We are extremely proud of the dedication our team members,” said Pam Maxwell, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Tidelands Health. “They’ve demonstrated a tremendous commitment to our patients and our role as a vital community safety net.”
