Lehigh Regional Medical Center lost water during Irma

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. Lehigh Regional Medical Center was without running water as Hurricane Irma passed, CEO Gary Bell said Wednesday.

Staff took buckets room to room to flush toilets until water was restored Tuesday, Bell said.

The hospital was also forced to move its intensive care unit to another part of the building because of leaks from Hurricane Irma’s heavy rain, according to Bell.

But the hospital was still able to overcome those issues, Bell said. It was unable to administer CT scans for part of the time but was otherwise able to handle business as usual.

“No patient care was compromised,” he said.

The hospital ran generator power as it dealt with a busier than normal load. On a normal day, an ambulance shows up there 16 times, but during the storm, that figure jumped to 46, Bell said.

“Our ER has been jammed,” he said.