Hospitals in the path of Monday's solar eclipse started planning more than a year ago to limit disruptions to their operations while also serving up a little fun for employees and patients.
The full solar eclipse will be visible in areas along its path of totality, a 115-mile-wide stretch that spans 13 states from Central Texas to Northeastern Maine and covers major metropolitan areas like San Antonio, Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Rochester, New York. Healthcare facilities in the path of totality have been working on ways to guarantee the continuation of emergency transportation and acute care services as communities anticipate the arrival of millions of tourists.
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Here’s what health systems are doing to prepare for the eclipse.
Securing staffing
Indiana University Health, which has four facilities in Southern Indiana, is expecting more than 500,000 visitors to flock to the area and stay at fully booked hotels and campsites. That could result in up to 12 hours of traffic gridlock, said Jason King, incident commander for the system's South Central Region.
“Our biggest concern is making sure that our team members are able to get to the hospital for their shifts,” King said.
The health system is offering in-hospital accommodations and food for employees who want to stay overnight at the hospital so they are there for shifts Monday, he said. Emergency response team members, like interventional radiology and trauma specialists, will be required to stay onsite from Sunday through Tuesday.
If workers do get stuck in transit, leaders at Franciscan Health’s Central Indiana facilities have been communicating with employees to ensure they are stocked up on gas, food and medication, said Kara Solomon, emergency preparedness manager for the system's Central Indiana division.
The health system also is scheduling more employees and overlapping shifts, particularly in the emergency department, to avert any staffing shortages.
In Central Texas where many schools will be closed due to the eclipse, AdventHealth is offering stipends to staff to offset the cost of childcare so they don’t have to miss work.
There also are concerns that the crowds might overwhelm the capacity of cellphone towers, inhibiting communications between hospitals and team members.
Rochester Regional Health, in Rochester, New York, has been supplied with handheld radios and Government Emergency Telecommunications Service cards, which give entities like hospitals priority access to networks, said Rob Johnson, the system's emergency preparedness director.
Rescheduling outpatient care
Health systems in the path of totality are reducing their outpatient and primary care services to limit the number of the people on the roads during the eclipse.
At AdventHealth’s Central Texas locations, all elective services like outpatient surgeries and imaging will be suspended Monday and resume Tuesday, said Kevin Roberts, president and CEO of AdventHealth Central Texas.
Medical practices that are part of the Franciscan Physician Network in Southern Indiana will move from in-person care to only virtual visits on Monday after noon.
Allegheny Health Network’s Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, plans to schedule most patient discharges ahead of the eclipse to minimize the amount of people leaving the hospital Monday.
Facilities also are preparing by ordering supplies and medical equipment in advance, and communicating with vendors about time-sensitive patient lab deliveries and pickups.
“We do a lot of just-in-time delivery and we want to make sure that we’re not relying on that going into Monday and Tuesday,” said Ronda Lehman, president of Mercy Health’s Lima, Ohio, market. “So we’re making sure that we have everything on hand that we need.”
Planning emergency transportation
Health systems are working with local police and transportation departments to ensure ambulances have access to roads and emergency helicopters have places to land.
There also are concerns about parking lots. AdventHealth will bolster its security officers' presence and require visitor parking passes to prevent hospital parking lots from being overwhelmed by people using the lots to view the eclipse and attend local events.
“We are having traffic control on our campus starting Sunday morning to make sure that our parking lots don't get overwhelmed, so our patients, families and emergency medical services can get in,” Roberts said.
Leaning into the event
Many hospitals are leaning into the fun and novelty of the solar eclipse by planning celebratory events for staff, patients and community members.
At Rochester General Hospital, staff are throwing a viewing party and using ISO-certified glasses supplied by the health system to safely look at the solar eclipse.
In Erie, Pennsylvania, Saint Vincent Hospital’s labor and delivery department has created custom solar eclipse onesies for babies born Monday. The hospital will also provide staff with space-themed goodie bags full of MoonPies, Starbursts and Milky Way candy bars.
To commemorate the more than 150,000 people expected to visit Killeen, Texas, Advent Health’s local hospitals have produced souvenir T-shirts that individuals can buy from the gift shop, Roberts said.
“We're in Central Texas and we're not a destination on most days,” he said. “So we're pretty excited about the event overall, but we're also very mindful of our part to play in keeping everyone safe.”
