Family confident in NCH care of patients during hurricane season

How are hospitals planning for a storm in the middle of a pandemic? Right now, they use negative pressure rooms to stop the spread within the hospital.

But what happens if the power out? The hospitals say don’t worry – they have plans in place to protect everyone.

We spoke to a woman whose mother received treatment at NCH. She says it is scary to worry about your loved ones fight with COVID-19 and how a storm will impact them. Luckily, her mother is doing much better, and they don’t have any worries about the hospitals being prepared.

“When she got out of being COVID positive, she had been on the ventilator for 50 days,” said Jennifer Grytza, whose mother, Virginia, contracted COVID-19 in March. Although she is no longer positive, she’s still fighting.

“She wasn’t able to move at all,” Grytza said. “So when she was taken off, she could breathe, but that’s it. She’s been in the hospital trying to regain her strength.”

Virginia’s family says she is doing much better now, and they are thankful for that, especially in light of the storms that could come this hurricane season.

“If my mom were COVID positive on a ventilator in the hospital, I would be terrified,” Grytza said.

In an exclusive tour of the NCH COVID-19 floor, Dr. David Linder explained negative pressure rooms.

“Out here, the air flows to this area of those familiar to the staff,” Linder told WINK News. “It goes into the room, and it goes out through, in this case, a portable ventilator unit. That makes these rooms negative pressure.”

They are important to slowing the spread of the virus.

“That’s what’s going to be the difficulty once hurricane season comes,” Linder said.

Grytza says she always knows what’s going on at the hospital, and the staff is prepared.

“In our situation right now, I feel OK about it,” Grytza said. “We know what’s going on. We know who’s coming and going. We’ve become friends with the nursing staff.”

Grytza hopes to see her mother transferred to a rehab facility next week.

“She’s been doing very well,” Grytza said. “She’s been getting herself back up and standing. She’s walked with a walker. We’re hoping she can walk out of that rehab facility and be ready to go.”

Lee Health tells us it has backup generators for the negative pressure rooms in case of a storm.

Bay Front Health in Charlotte County says they have backup as well and are working through their disaster plan checklist to make sure everyone stays as safe as possible.