Bellevue Hospital fully returns 99 days after evacuation

Ninety-nine days after it was evacuated in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Bellevue Hospital Center fully reopened on Thursday. Bellevue, New York City's flagship public hospital, had been reopening piecemeal, but it has now resumed its status as a Level 1 trauma center and opened all 828 inpatient beds. Bellevue was evacuated for the first time in its history on Oct. 31, two days after the storm, after its basement flooded with millions of gallons of water and fuel pumps for its backup power generators failed. Three hundred patients were evacuated that day and into the night.