Report compiled by Janna Lawrence
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
For many of us in the Midwest, the answer to the question, "How was your summer?" is "Well, except for the floods, it wasn't so bad!" According to information collected by the GMR, most health sciences libraries in the region came through the flooding with little damage, even if their institutions suffered greater injury.
At the University of Iowa, the entire campus, including the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, shut down beginning Friday, June 13, due to Iowa River flooding. Although the UI Hospital and Clinics remained open for essential services, most appointments and elective surgery were rescheduled. When campus reopened on Monday, June 23, Main Library, which had been the focus of sandbagging and evacuation, remained closed, as did more than a dozen other buildings. Main Library's damage was minor, consisting of a few inches of water in part of the basement, but it forced the library to be closed for two weeks. During that time, about fifty staff members from the Central Technical Services department made Hardin their home away from home. Information on flooding at the University of Iowa, including photos and a list of currently closed buildings, can be found at http://www.uiowa.edu/floodrecovery/.
According to Chris Kiess, librarian at Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, IN, her hospital sustained "a tremendous amount of damage to both the lower level and the first floor" but the library was undamaged. The hospital was evacuated on June 7 and began re-opening on June 13. Although departments in the hospital did not begin to re-open until August, many outpatient services were provided at other locations. The hospital was committed to keep as many people employed as possible during the recovery, although employees frequently performed duties outside of their normal jobs. Chris says that because of this, she became a librarian-in-hardhat! More information on Columbus Regional's continued recovery, including many photos, can be found at http://www.crhrecovery.org/.
Randi Thon, Library Director at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, sent along this first person report:
Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids switched to emergency backup power at approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday June 12 but emergency preparedness meetings had been held the day before with the projected worst case scenarios eventually being far surpassed. At approximately 1:00 a.m. Friday June 13, the evacuation of 183 patients commenced due to the uncertainties brought by the unprecedented flooding that plagued much of the Midwest earlier this summer. While some staff assisted with patient evacuation efforts, others sandbagged and still others scrambled to save equipment, supplies and files from the basement and ground floors. Many of the departments heavily impacted by the flood are those that are integral to patient care: radiology, laboratory, catheterization lab, pharmacy, emergency, and central sterile. Mercy's administrative team set an ambitious goal of being fully operational by June 29. That goal was met with the exception of the emergency department, which opened on July 2. Though displaced, all of Mercy's services are now fully operational and are looking to return to permanent spaces in the next few weeks. More than five miles of dry wall have been laid to accomplish this!The Watts Medical Library & Patient Resource Center, located on the 1st floor, was not affected by water, but by the flood of equipment, supplies, files and staff of displaced departments. The library doors remained open as the space was used for temporary storage space until Mercy resumed admitting patients. As the hospital slowly returned to normal operations, so did the library. Equipment and supplies disappeared as departments were moved to their temporary locations. The transition from the library being open 24/7 to the regular M-F 8-4:30 did take weeks for some staff to adjust to. Eventually, during 'off' hours, locked doors remained locked, computers stayed off and respect for the staff area returned. While there were moments of frustration, I am thankful for the opportunity and ability to offer the library's space, equipment and supplies for those departments that needed it the most.
For more information about this summer's flooding, plus resources for dealing with disaster information management, check out Emergency Preparedness section of The Cornflower, the NNLM/GMR's blog, at http://nnlm.gov/gmr/blog/general/emergency-preparedness/.