Q&A: NJ Health System CEO's Post-Sandy Appraisal

Hackensack University Health Network President and CEO Robert C. Garrett spoke with HealthLeaders Media on Wednesday afternoon to offer an update on the three-hospital health system's recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy.

HLM: How did you fare in the storm?

Garrett: "It's been a busy and stressful time but I have to say our team here has performed magnificently. We started the preparation a week before the storm hit, as soon as the models showed it coming up the East Coast and hitting New Jersey as a direct target.

We had a delivery of fuel for our diesel generators to make sure that if we were on emergency generator for several days we were prepared. Our disaster plan went into effect on Monday.

We had an incident command center set up. We lost power about 6:00 p.m. and we immediately switched to the emergency generators which remained on until late Tuesday night.

About 85% of our power has now been restored, but we still have about 15% out including our ambulatory operating rooms, our diagnostic center, and a breast imaging center which are located in a building with a different power feed. That is still operating on generator power."