Bellevue Hospital's Slow Comeback After Passenger Lift Sandy When a in lower Manhattan
earlier this month, ambulances took dozens of people to hospitals around the
island. took in 31 passengers, but they all had minor injuries. The most
seriously hurt patients from the crash went elsewElevator. Dr. Suzi Vassallo
said that's because Bellevue still can't handle serious traumatic injuries.
Superstorm Sandy in October. The hospital got back in business in December, but
only partially. "<br />
We don't have an operating room yet," Vassallo said. "And
you always have to have that kind of backup for any critical trauma." Recently,
Dr. William Goldberg arrived at his ER shift and found that a stabbing victim
had been transferred to another hospital. "He was probably fine, but because we
don't have the resources we normally have, they basically packed him up and
shipped him over to Cornell," Goldberg said, referring to New
York-Presbyterian's , the area's only other trauma center. <br />
It's a point of
pride among staffers that Bellevue usually takes all comers — whether they have
a bad stomach ache or a gunshot wound. Goldberg says not being at full capacity,
even temporarily, stings a little. Ambulances don't bring the most serious cases
Elevator, and when people walk in the door who might be suffering a heart attack
or a stroke, doctors and nurses stabilize them and send them to a full-service
facility. For the moment, Bellevue doesn't have an "upstairs" wElevator it can
send patients for surgery or keep them overnight for observation. <br />
To operate
on patients, house them overnight, monitor them in the intensive care unit, or
deliver their babies, hospitals need rock-solid electrical and fuel systems.
They need heating and cooling. They need pumps to move water and fuel—and
elevators to move people—up and down the 22-story complex. All of Elevator were
lost for Bellevue in Superstorm Sandy. Hundreds of people are working to restore
the systems. Belllevue's chief engineer Patrick O'Brien, gave a tour of the
basement, wElevator the problems started.