September 26, 2005

UT System Institutions: Hurricane Rita Updates

UT System institutions predicted to be in the path of Hurricane Rita did a phenomenal job in preparing for the worst case scenario.  Although the physical damage was light, affected institutions had to dedicate extensive resources to relocate patients, staff and conduct other emergency preparedness activities. Our other institutions were very active in making preparations to assist if needed. Updates from each campus include:

UT MEDICAL BRANCH AT GALVESTON

September 26

• Campus emergency site: http://www.utmb.edu/alert/
• Campus-based dorms do not have power at this time.
• The Primary Care Pavilion and the Lipton Tea Building are without power.
• Some of the research facilities are operating on back-up generators.
• The Emergency Department is closed to all but urgent medical cases .
• The RMCH clinics in Beaumont and Orange will remain closed until further notice.
• UTMB is working with Seton and state officials for the safe and orderly return of patients who were evacuated prior to the storm.
• Information Services will be working today to bring those information systems still off-line back up.
• Employees who were evacuated to Fort Worth will fly out of Naval Air Station Ft. Worth today.
• UTMB will open two off-site, urgent care clinics today.

September 27

• Correctional Managed Care employees at Hospital Galveston will be expected to return to work for regular shifts.
• Will lift emergency status and resume normal business operations effective 8 a.m.

September 28

• The ambulatory campus-based clinics, community-based clinics and Regional Maternal and Child Health Clinics will open.
• Ambulatory procedures, including day surgery and ancillary testing, previously scheduled for Wednesday and beyond will take place as scheduled.

September 29

• Classes are expected to resume September 29, for all students.

Prior to Hurricane Rita

• The City of Galveston's mandatory evacuation went well. Over 600 patients were evacuated to other facilities within Texas, including those within the UT System family.  The State of Texas responded quickly and efficiently to Dr. Stobo's request for ambulances and helicopters, and the remainder of those evacuations were complete by Thursday evening (Sept. 22). Seton Medical Network should also be commended for their assistance with this evacuation effort. 
• A team of emergency personnel remained at the hospital to provide continued care to patients who are unable to be evacuated. All hazardous waste materials were shipped out and risks associated with such were mitigated.
• Special precautions were taken at the Bio-containment Laboratory and information about these steps was made available to the public. See the Houston Chronicle detailing these steps at: UTMB virus lab, South Texas nuclear plant are ready

• University administrators temporarily changed the Trauma Center's designation and function to that of an “urgent care facility;” incoming patients could be treated, stabilized and evacuated as long as conditions were safe for transport.

• As of Thursday morning (Sept. 22), about 400 “emergency essential” personnel remained on campus. About 100 were involved in key infrastructure support (power and utilities, food, security, communication, etc.). Many of the other 300 were clinical personnel instrumental in the evacuation of 400 patients.
• The university made arrangements with the state to offer assistance to clinical staff who needed to evacuate. Military transports flew UTMB staff to a special shelter in Dallas on Thursday (Sept. 22).

UT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER - HOUSTON

• http://publicaffairs.uth.tmc.edu/Media/newsreleases/nr2005/reopens.html
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston reopened during normal business hours.
• Dental clinics are open.
• Information Technology staff are continuing their efforts to restore network connectivity by this evening.
• Campus emergency site: http://www.uth.tmc.edu/
• Voluntary evacuation of the city was successful. Mandatory evacuations began Thursday evening (Sept.22) for certain areas of Houston. The UT Health Science Center - Houston emergency plan was executed. The hospital did notevacuate their patients; however the emergency preparedness team was watching the situation carefully.
• Precautions were taken to move animals to upper floors, generators were placed in strategic locations, and flood doors were installed. The institution reported that all hazardous waste materials were moved.

UT M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER

• Campus emergency site: http://www.mdanderson.org/featured_sites/rita/
• Hurricane Rita's impact was minimal on the Houston area
• M.D. Anderson will be closed Mon-Tues. to allow safe travel for patients and our employees.
• M.D. Anderson is caring for more than 400 inpatients and anticipates returning to full patient care operations by Wednesday, Sept. 28.
• Bone marrow transplant and leukemia outpatients will be seen for continuity of care, and radiation oncology will continue with regularly scheduled appointments during this time.
• http://www.mdanderson.org/featured_sites/rita/
• Prior to Hurrciane Rita, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported that they had scaled back patient service and suspended all clinical operations. The hospital remained open and patient care continued for certain patient groups through Friday (Sept. 23). The Rotary House was closed, and occupants were relocated. As with HSC Houston, M.D. Anderson was prepared for extensive flooding and took steps to mitigate loss. The emergency preparedness team continually monitored the storm path and was prepared to handle coordination of recovery efforts.

UT BROWNSVILLE AND UT PAN AMERICAN

• Campus emergency site: http://pubs.utb.edu/hurricanerita.htm
• Although Hurricane Rita was not anticipated to impact the Southern tip of the Texas coast, UT Brownsville and Pan American were on alert status and were ready to make timely decisions regarding further implementation of their emergency plans.

UT AUSTIN MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE AT PORT ARANSAS

• The Institute was secured and all personnel were advised to leave the island.

SYSTEM-WIDE AND THE UT SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION

• Under UT System's Disaster Response and Recovery Mutual Aid Plan, the UT System Office of Risk Management initiated communication with the institutions' mutual aid coordinators. The UT System Mutual Aid Plan facilitates the sharing of UT institution resources to assist affected institutions in their recovery efforts. All UT System institutions were prepared to offer recovery assistance, and the system's disaster recovery and response contractor, BMS Catastrophe, Inc. was prepared to provide services to UT institutions as well.
• On a System-wide level, several institutions and System Administration offered office space to employees from impacted campuses, who were involved in maintaining basic operations or providing information regarding their institutions from their evacuated locations. 
• UT Austin, UT Arlington, UT Dallas, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, UT San Antonio,
  UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and UT System Administration all opened their doors and offered to provide office space and housing for affected UT staff, faculty and students.
• Cindy Hammond in the UT System employee services office was the chief point of contact regarding temporary housing needs in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth/Arlington, and San Antonio.
  Her phone number is (512) 322-3759 and e-mail address is chammond@utsystem.edu.
• UT institutions affected by Hurricane Rita are continuously updating their response information on their websites.

UT ARLINGTON

• In the event that the University of Houston was unable to send e-mail due to Hurricane Rita, UT Arlington volunteered to provide server space, software and host a UH e-mail mailing list. 

UT AUSTIN

• Campus emergency site: http://www.utexas.edu/spotlight/2005/rita0922.html
• The university was prepared to use local radio and television stations, the group e-mail system, the university Web site and internal departmental communications to keep the campus community informed of any changes in work or class schedules due to weather conditions in the Austin area over the weekend.  Classes, non-essential services and programs were shut down on Saturday, Sept. 24. Campus operations normally scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 25 proceeded as planned.

UT DALLAS

• UT Dallas worked with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to ensure that all relevant data on chemical facilities in Brazoria, Galveston, Harris and Montgomery Counties were available to first responders through the university's E-Plan emergency information system. The predicted impact area for Hurricane Rita had the highest concentration of chemical facilities in the United States. Information on E-Plan is available at http://eplannews.utdallas.edu

UT EL PASO

• The University of Texas at El Paso offered shelter to evacuees at its auxiliary gymnasium and Memorial gymnasium. Local Red Cross staff and volunteers were ready to manage the temporary shelter as they did at the Judson F. Williams Convention Center earlier this month for Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

UT HEALTH CENTER AT TYLER

• The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler went on alert status Wednesday (Sept. 21) to help its neighbors to the south prepare for the potentially devastating Hurricane Rita.
• David Lakey, MD, medical director for the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at UTHCT, headed up the Medical Operations Center. He was set to oversee medical care provided at the evacuee shelters
• Kent Davis, MD, director of UTHCT's Center for Healthy Aging, worked with nursing homes to coordinate the placement of any residents that may need to be relocated to this area
• UTHCT was prepared to assist UT Medical Branch at Galveston to evacuate and treat correctional patients.

UT PERMIAN BASIN

• UT Permian Basin officials signed an agreement with the American Red Cross Thursday afternoon (Sept. 22) to accept evacuees in the university's gymnasium. Evacuees sheltered in the gymnasium would be given ID cards to ride on the EZ-Rider bus transportation system.
• UTPB students planned a hurricane relief spaghetti dinner to benefit the American Red Cross, set up boxes all over campus to collect hygiene items, and clothing for hurricane evacuees.

TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (512-427-6101) has established a website at www.RitaCollegeStudents.org -- to serve as a clearinghouse for which colleges and universities can provide the latest information and answer questions concerning institutional closures, emergency shelters, and other relevant information as it becomes available.