TAMPA, Fla. — Just feet away from Hillsborough Bay sits one of the largest hospitals in the country. Tampa General Hospital is located on Davis Islands.
Some question how a hospital so close to the water can be safe, especially during hurricane season when storms have threatened our coast. Officials say that’s why they prepare year-round to make sure their hurricane preparedness plan is ready to go and up to date if a storm were to hit.
“I've been here almost 10 years, but even before that, we have had a lot of a lot of ongoing work and initiatives towards making sure that the hospital is safe and protected,” said Erinn Skiba, Assistant Director of Public Safety for Tampa General Hospital. “You know, annually we, like we always do, we review our plans. We meet, every other month with the Emergency Management Committee so we're constantly looking at risks and threats.”
Because as the threats become stronger, they say so do their plans. A multi-million-dollar investment was made for the AquaFence. It was deployed for the first time around the hospital in 2022 ahead of Hurricane Ian.
“It really takes our lowest point of entry up from about eight feet up to 15 feet. So it, you know, from a storm surge standpoint, it definitely protects the hospital from that,” Skiba said.
Skiba pointed out that feature during the behind-the-scenes tour with 10 Investigates to look at new investments that were made. Another one of those investments came after seeing some hospitals in Florida lose running water after Hurricane Ian.
“We have two emergency wells here on site. One is more for our chillers, our water treatment and more facility, and then our second water is more on the potable water, drinking water, patient care side,” Skiba said. “The emergency water well project was an $11 million investment for the organization, and so that too just came out of Hurricane Ian. Another big initiative that really, we are looking at locally, but also across the state, is really patient evacuation coordination.”
They are also having conversations with outside agencies about plans in case the bridge connecting the island is damaged during a storm.
“We're looking at that and obviously any time there's an impact to another community, I think it kind of draws attention. And so we do have, you know, a great support from our city, county, even state partners, to look at some different options there,” Skiba said.
The hospital has yet to evacuate, and they plan to keep it that way as another hurricane season blows through.
“We've had to activate our plans, and we look at those things very closely to put in place improvement plans and after-action items that we can really take back and improve. You know, I think the community needs to do their part to make sure that they're ready and they're prepared.”
It’s not just TGH that has to prepare for a hurricane. The state has rules in place that every hospital in Florida has to follow. Click here to see what the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration requires.