Bellevue Hospital Won't Fully Reopen Until February, Officials Say

 

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Bellevue Hospital was evacuated after Hurricane Sandy Oct. 31, 2012.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

Alan Aviles, the president of the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs Bellevue, and the city's other public hospitals, said the hospital is undergoing a full evacuation due to extensive damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. "It became clear that that damage was so extensive that we would be unable to adequately power this building even with additional external generators for quite some time," said Aviles.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

A National Guard vehicle at Bellevue to help with the evacuation.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

Hospital staff and a National Guardsmen walk outside Bellevue Hospital.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

Ambulances made repeted trips to Bellevue Hospital to help evacuate patients.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

More than a dozen ambulances lined up to transport patients from Bellevue to other hospitals around the city.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

The National Guard helped evacuate patients from Bellevue Hospital Oct. 31, 2012.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

Ambulances evacuated patients from Bellevue Hospital Oct. 31, 2012.

DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

Bellevue Hospital

Flickr/Rich Pompetti

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Bellevue Hospital was evacuated after Hurricane Sandy Oct. 31, 2012.

Photo Credit: DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

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HOWARD BEACH — Bellevue Hospital Center will not fully reopen for months because of damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, officials said Monday.

While the City Council is expected to approve $500 million in capital funds to repair damages to public schools and hospitals on Tuesday, the amount of work needed at the hospital means it will open slowly, providing outpatient services starting Nov. 19. But full service, including emergency care and inpatient units, will not return until the first week in February, according to Hospital Corporation President Alan Aviles.

Aviles added that while damage was severe, no important patient information was lost.

"We do use electronic medical records, so all of that data is stored in servers remotely and is backed up by a second set of servers in two different data centers. So none of that important information was lost," he said. "It all was recoverable."

Coney Island Hospital and the Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility on Roosevelt Island also sustained major damage during the hurricane and will require extensive repairs.

Coney Island Hospital is already providing outpatient services and is expected to return to full service by the first week in January.

The hospitals require repairs or replacements to boiler systems, back-up generators, elevators, ventilation, air-conditioning and electrical systems as well as fixing flood damage.

"The serious storm-related damage to several facilities within our public hospitals system is unprecedented," Aviles said in a statement. "We have an army of personnel working around the clock to restore services as soon as possible so we can continue to meet the healthcare needs of New Yorkers."