Our team is following storm impacts and damage across the region. Eldorado saw some flooding from the storm.
ELDORADO, Ill. (WSIL)-- Our team is following storm impacts and damage across the region. Eldorado saw some flooding from the storm.
Ferrell Hospital had flood waters rush in causing the hospital to close.
Ruth Street walks her dogs in front of Ferrell Hospital every day. But she says now walking around the hospital doesn't feel right and she wonders how long it will take to get back to normal.
“It feels empty and it's just, it kind of makes you have a little fear. If you need an emergency, what are you gonna do,� Street asks. “You'll have to make arrangements for something else.�
Street says Ferrell Hospital has become a staple in the community, even having people stopping by the cafeteria to get some food.
“We've had neighbors here that just walk right in and get their breakfast and come out. So that's gonna be another thing for an adjustment for them,� Street said.
Normally an emergency room like this would be filled with doctors and nurses running around, but after the severe storms the emergency room had to be cleared out. Ferrell Hospitals CEO Tony Keene says they enacted their disaster protocol and started moving patients.
“At this point, about 40,000 square feet was impacted by the flooding,� Keene said.
The morning after the storm, they are trying to get the carpets to dry.
“So at this point, we've got the water removed, and so we are in the restoration phase at this point,� Keene said.
Keene said they didn’t have a lot of patients in the hospital at the time of the storms.
“So we were able to discharge a couple of the patients home,� Keene said.
The other patients were transferred to facilities where their care could continue.
With an empty hospital staff and crews can focus on cleaning the building.
“We're waiting for industrial hygienists to come and help us to put together the restoration plan from here,� Keene says. “We've been in contact with the Illinois Department of Public Health, and they've provided some resources to us and some things that we need to accomplish from their standpoint.�
There’s a water stain left on the emergency entrance of the hospital, which shows how high the water got.
“The water was not in the patient care areas at that point,� Keene says. “We were able to transition them out without any issues related to the water.�
Community members including the Eldorado volunteer fire department were at the hospital cleaning as soon as they heard the storm impacted the hospital.
“Some of the members of the local high school football team. They were able to get a lot of that water moved out in a short amount of time,� Keene said.
Keene says the hospital is thankful for all the help from the community, but now they are focusing on rescheduling appointments.
“If there are emergency situations in the community, as always we ask that you call 9-1-1. And EMS will be available to transfer you to a location that's appropriate for the needs that you have,� Keene said.
As for Street, she says she had an appointment at the hospital before it flooded.Â
“I walked over there yesterday morning and had my ultrasound and then came back,� Street says. “So if I were to have had it today, it would not have happened.�
Keene says it will take some time for the hospital to get back up and running.Â
