Sent on behalf of Alan B. Miller   September 23, 2005

More than two weeks have passed since Hurricane Katrina.  
Both Methodist and Chalmette Hospitals have been severely damaged and are closed for the foreseeable future.  River Oaks Hospital did sustain damage but will reopen shortly.
Throughout this ordeal our entire organization acted admirably and at the hospitals, in the midst of the devastation, many acted heroically.
While a New York Times  article was complimentary about the action taken by UHS to deliver supplies and save lives, a recent article in the Los Angeles Times  contained a number of errors and inaccuracies in its description of Universal Health Services (UHS) and our response.  Let me summarize the situation.
UHS began to prepare for the hurricane well in advance of its arrival in New Orleans.  We loaded trucks with food, water and diesel fuel for generators and positioned them in Lafayette, LA, so that they could travel to our hospitals and deliver supplies as soon as it was safe to do so.
We asked doctors to cancel all elective surgery and to discharge all patients who could safely leave the hospital so that those patients could be with their families.  We evacuated as many patients as possible but our efforts were hampered by a lack of available ambulances and transport personnel.
In addition, some of our patients were critically ill and moving them would have endangered their lives.  That is why the mayor’s mandatory evacuation order exempted hospitals and why no hospitals in the area (none of 13) including Charity, Memorial, the University Hospital and Tulane University Hospital evacuated all their patients or closed in advance of the storm.
Many of our dedicated staff of doctors, nurses, technicians, engineers and others prepared to remain in our hospital buildings throughout the storm so that they would be there to provide patients with the medical care they needed.
We inform our employees, and it is clearly understood that in an emergency, since we are a first responder and the hospital will contain sick and injured people, they are expected to report for work
After the storm hit and the levee broke, our hospitals were flooded with water that was from 5 to 12 feet deep.  Our staffs were unable to evacuate themselves and their patients.  Area residents with nowhere to go went to the hospitals in search of shelter and were welcomed inside.
When it became clear that there would be no immediate rescue by the authorities, UHS acted on its own.  We chartered helicopters to evacuate patients and employees, as well as deliver much-needed supplies.  We were able to successfully deliver some of those supplies to the hospitals but the frequency and timing of our flights were limited by the authorities, and some of our supplies were diverted elsewhere.
While they were waiting to be evacuated, our staff and management acted heroically to provide medical care for everyone left in their charge until the authorities were able to evacuate the facilities.  They shared what little water and food was on hand, they carried patients up staircases, they hand pumped ventilators in the stench, dark and stifling heat.  The Chief Executive Officers of our hospitals were the last people to leave the hospital buildings.  They did not leave until they were sure everyone else had safely departed.
We know that the storm has had a devastating impact on the lives of our employees and we are taking the following actions to help them through these difficult times:
 ·UHS will continue to pay our New Orleans employees for their normal work       schedules for at least one month after the storm.
 ·UHS will extend benefits for those employees through the end of this year.
 ·UHS has begun a company-wide initiative to place as many displaced New    Orleans employees in jobs at our other hospitals and will guarantee a job to  any employee who wishes to relocate to another part of the country.
 ·UHS has established the charitable UHS Foundation to collect donations to  aid our affected employees in the New Orleans area.  We expect to raise  approximately $2 million for the Foundation, and 167 checks have been sent  to employees who need financial assistance.  We will continue to send checks  until all funds are exhausted.
 

Universal Health Services Foundation

367 South Gulph Road

PO Box 61558
King of Prussia, PA  19406
Attention:  Treasury Department

John Flanagan from Timberlawn Hospital, a Texas site for displaced employees, wrote me to say how proud he was to be associated with company nurses Godwin from Methodist and Keith from Chalmette.  After hearing of their actions, he referred to them as true heroes.  I thank them and the many others like them.
We are extremely proud of the selflessness and sacrifice with which all our New Orleans employees served during the hurricane.  Their dedication to our patients and the community under most trying circumstances is an inspiration.