Northern California hospitals are caught in the crosshairs of more than a dozen wildfires currently ravaging the region, incinerating entire neighborhoods as the death toll continues to rise.
Kaiser Permanente's Santa Rosa medical center remained closed Thursday after roughly 130 patients were evacuated early Monday morning and the facility closed. Surgeries and appointments were canceled as patients were sent to the system's San Rafael, Oakland and San Francisco medical centers.
The system said some medical offices were open for limited services, but video visits and telephone appointments were being utilized for primary care needs. The hospital is closed until further notice, the system said.
Sutter Health's Santa Rosa Regional Hospital also closed but remains on emergency power. The hospital was forced to evacuate almost 80 patients Wednesday, sending them to various Bay Area facilities. Elective procedures were in the process of being canceled.
The hospital said they hadn't detected any structural damage, but that "significant cleaning" and restocking of medical supplies was ongoing. "We do not know exactly when all utilities will be restored, but we expect it will take several days."
Sutter Health has also closed a number of outpatient clinics, their Santa Rosa Urgent Care facility, and surgery centers as well.
Kaiser Permanente said their Northern California emergency departments remained open and prepared to treat patients, and Bay Area EDs were seeing numerous patients needing help with breathing issues due to heavy smoke throughout the area.
Kaiser Permanente recommended that patients with asthma or COPD stay inside and close their windows, use steroid inhalers as prescribed when needed, use "quick relief" inhalers to alleviate shortness of breath, and to turn on central air conditioning systems as it could help clear the air. For those with window units, Kaiser advised making sure the filter was clean first and using fans to circulate the air in the home.
Meanwhile some nearby community hospitals are bracing for an influx of patients thanks to the evacuations of the larger hospitals, according to local reports. Sonoma West Medical Center, which houses 37 beds, was overflowing after Sutter Health patients were brought there after being evacuated.
They admitted 21 patients and treated 40 in the emergency department, SWMC chief nursing officer Barbara Vogelsang told the Sonoma West Times & News. There were two patients in the intensive care unit, including a burn patient who was later transferred to a San Francisco hospital.
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Email the writer: beth.sanborn@himssmedia.com