Hospitals, Clinics Brace For Storm Fay

LAKELAND | Polk County hospitals are ready for what the winds of Tropical Storm or Hurricane Fay bring in the way of patients.

All five will be open, as will Watson Clinic, Polk's largest private medical group, which has an urgent-care center for non-hospital-level emergencies.

But schedule changes are planned at some hospitals' outpatient services:

Lakeland Regional Cancer Center will close at noon Tuesday. The outpatient surgical center behind Lakeland Regional Medical Center will close at 2 p.m. LRMC's outpatient mental-health Center for Counseling will be closed all day.

At Lake Wales Medical Center, outpatient services such as physical therapy are likely to shut down by early afternoon, spokeswoman Maryemma Bachelder said. Scheduled surgeries however, will proceed as planned.

"We have spent the past couple of days -- and today -- actively preparing for this storm," she said Monday.

"The three hurricanes that hit Lake Wales back in 2004 have, of course, given us experience in getting ready ... We are making sure we have all the supplies and equipment in place that we may need, and we're talking with all of our personnel to ensure that we have plenty of staffing to take care of whatever is going to face us."

Other local hospitals spent Monday studying contingency plans.

LRMC and Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center hadn't started canceling elective surgeries Monday afternoon, although some patients or doctors reportedly were making that decision.

"We are business as usual, as far as taking care of patients," said Cindy Sternlicht, LRMC public relations director.

Winter Haven Hospital has a command center set up and was inventorying supplies, spokesman Joel Thomas said.

If winds were expected to be threatening, some patients may be moved to lower floors as a precaution, he said.

Heart of Florida is telling its employees to come in early or prepare to stay late, as needed, depending on how the weather is their scheduled shifts, said Linda Vendl, marketing director for the Haines City hospital.

Lakeland and Lake Wales' hospitals will have child care available for employees who are required to work during the storm and need that assistance, their spokeswomen said.

[ Robin Williams Adams can be reached at robin.adams@theledger.com or 863-802-7558. Read her blog at robinsrx.theledger.com. ]