Ice on the roads Friday meant some medical professionals found it hard to get to work, forcing the closure of some area public health departments and doctors’ offices.
At Gastrointestinal Associates in Cleveland, Tenn., receptionist Dana Bitzel said three employees – about half the office’s staff – couldn’t make it to the office Friday because of road conditions, particularly on side streets.
“It was like driving over pure ice and snow,” she said.
WEEKEND CARE OPTIONSFor nonemergency situations, the afterhours urgent care pediatric center at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital is open seven days a week from 6 p.m. to midnight. The walk-in clinic is next to the Children’s Hospital Emergency Department and is staffed by the same medical specialists who provide pediatric emergency services in Children’s Hospital.Erlanger East Urgent Care Center is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The center can diagnose and treat minor to moderate medical problems such as sprains, bone fractures, burns, lacerations and pneumonia.
But like in many offices in town, patient cancellations also were snowballing, she said.
“Pretty much everyone has called and canceled,” she said. “Our whole schedule was wiped out except for three who were brave enough.”
Other doctors’ offices couldn’t even open Friday, and some were short-staffed yet still experiencing waves of patients.
Local emergency department directors said they have been preparing for days to ensure that they were fully staffed and ready for business despite the weather.
At Erlanger hospital, dozens of ER staff members scheduled for the day shift Friday actually slept at the hospital the night before to make sure even icy roads couldn’t keep them away, said Debbie Shepherd, director of disaster management.
“We started preparing for this Monday as we watched the weather,” she said. “We started planning about our entrances, making sure everything stayed clear. We had salt down, and making sure we had places (for staff) to sleep.”
Public health departments serving Catoosa, Dade, Walker and Whitfield counties also shut down Friday, while the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department remained open.
Some local flu vaccine clinics had to be rescheduled, although as of Friday afternoon vaccine clinics at Eastgate Town Center, by appointment only, were still on schedule, said spokeswoman Jennifer Yim.