Hospital personnel and the state Department of Transportation have made preparations to take care of North Olympic Peninsula medical needs during the six-week closure of the Hood Canal Bridge that begins Friday.
The state Department of Transportation has set up methods of transporting people across the Hood Canal both for emergencies and for ongoing medical treatment
Representatives of the three Peninsula hospital districts — Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend and Forks Community Hospital — said they are working together to take care of patients who are accustomed to using the bridge to get to medical care.
The districts have set up a doctor-locator hotline for patients to call for patients who normally receive health care on the other side of Hood Canal.
In both counties, patients can phone 888-362-6260 and be connected with a local doctor to fit their needs.
In Jefferson County, residents can phone 360-385-2408 and get an appointment over the phone.
“We will do it right then and there,” said Vic Dirksen, administrator of Jefferson Healthcare.
“If you call that number looking for primary care, we will get you an appointment while you are on the phone.
“If you don’t have a physician in town, we will take care of you.”
Central contact
Rhonda Curry, Olympic Medical Center assistant administrator, said the toll-free number would work much the same.
“It’s a centralized point of contact for community members, from Forks Hospital District through ours to Jefferson, searching for a health-care provider,” Curry said.
“It’s been a really nice collaboration between the three public hospital districts.”
The districts are also bumping up staff to prepare for the closure.
Jefferson Healthcare has additional nurses prepared to work throughout the hospital on an as-needed basis.
“We have hired some nurses who can go to a variety of different locations throughout the hospital,” Dirksen said, “And overall, our staff is getting geared up and prepared for this if we see extra patients.”
At Olympic Medical Center, additional doctors specialized in hospital medicine — called hospitalists — have been preparing to work with more patients with a larger spectrum of medical needs.
“One of the contingencies we are planning for is additional patients,” Curry said.
“Hospitalists have been preparing to meet the additional need as we are planning and preparing to see a greater number of patients.”
Forks
Forks Community Hospital, said John Sherrett, hospital chief operating officer and chief financial officer, is not as concerned about an increase in patients as in possible transportation issues.
“We’re really only concerned about patients who need to be transported,” Sherrett said, “And we’re only worried about a time when helicopters can’t land” because of rain or fog.
Sherrett said in that situation, patients would be transported to Port Angeles or Aberdeen.
Curry said Olympic Medical Center, a level 3 trauma center, is the highest rated of the three hospitals in the area and would be able to take patients that Forks Community and Jefferson Healthcare could not.
Shuttle, bus service
Even if a patient must be taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for emergency care, and Airlift Northwest is grounded due to fog, a free, 149-passenger water shuttle will cross Hood Canal on temporary docks near the bridge every day from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The shuttle runs every 30 minutes and is equipped to bring patients across the canal.
A free bus service also will operate by reservation to take people to appointments for ongoing medical care who do not need constant monitoring or care.
For Kitsap County appointments, a bus will meet select water shuttles at LoFall and drive to Silverdale and Bremerton.
For Seattle appointments, patients can be picked up in Port Townsend, Port Angeles and Sequim. They would be ferried to Keystone, then sent south through Clinton and Mukilteo to Seattle.
To reserve a space on either bus, phone 877-595-4222 at least two days in advance.
In the event of a life-threatening emergency while the ferry is not operating, DOT crews are prepared to stop their nightly maintenance work and ferry a patient across Hood Canal.
Curry said the bottom line is that the Peninsula’s hospital districts believe they are prepared.
“Yes, we are ready for this,” she said.
“We’ve been getting ready for this for some time now, and given that it is a situation we have not done before, we believe we will be OK.”
Even so, Curry said she still hopes to see the bridge construction completed ahead of schedule.
“We’ve planned for six weeks, but we are hoping for four,” she said.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
