California wildfires continue to impact hospitals, other healthcare facilities as containment inches higher
While some hospitals have resumed some level of operation, at least one has not and skilled nursing facilities have been permanently evacuated.
Adventist Health Feather River Hospital
As firefighters struggle to contain the devastating Woolsey and Camp wildfires in California, at least two more hospitals have had to be evacuated. At least one has reopened and has brought back patients. According to the California Department of Public Health, Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center is now operational and repopulated. The hospital's website confirmed that all Los Robles campuses are open and caring for patients.
The Camp Fire is wreaking havoc in Northern California in the Sacramento region and the Woolsey Fire is proving a destructive force in Southern California in the Los Angeles area.
A report from Bloomberg said that as of November 14, Los Robles Hospital Medical Center in Westlake Village was not receiving patients. West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in West Hills was also said to not be receiving patients, according to the report. The Department of Public Health website shows that the hospital is currently operational and in the process of repopulating.
Both Los Robles and West Hills are owned by HCA Healthcare and located in Los Angeles. It is unclear whether the facilities were partially or fully evacuated and the extent to which they may have been damaged, if at all.
Earlier this month, Adventist Health Feather River Hospital had to be evacuated as the fire laid siege to its campus. The hospital and several other buildings were damaged but patients were evacuated to nearby hospitals safely. Adventist has since learned that many of its staff have lost their homes, the report said.
All three skilled nursing facilities in Paradise, the small mountain town decimated by the Camp Fire, were also fully evacuated. The Department of Public Health said those evacuations are permanent and patients were taken to nearby facilities in Chico, Oroville, Redding and other municipalities.
The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive fire in state history, killing 79 people with close to 700 still unaccounted for. Many, if not most, are residents of Paradise. The Camp Fire is 70 percent contained, according to a report from NPR, but authorities said they don't expect it to be fully contained until November 30.
Three additional fatalities were attributed to the Woolsey Fire in Southern California, which also broke out earlier this month.
ON THE RECORD
"Thanks to the efforts of nursing home staff who remained on the job while their own homes burned to the ground, all residents were safely evacuated," CAHF spokeswoman Deborah Pacyna told Bloomberg.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Email the writer: beth.sanborn@himssmedia.com
