Under siege from storm, hospitals get creative

Hospitals took extraordinary measures — and faced tough choices — as New England was frozen into place Tuesday by howling winds and relentless snowfall. From ferrying patients home in four-wheel-drive vans to fashioning temporary rooms out of waiting areas, hospital administrators got creative. At South Shore Hospital, two Chevrolet Tahoes were rented to drive roughly two dozen discharged patients to their homes, with emergency medical technicians doubling as the van drivers and even shoveling out some of the patients' walkways to gain access to their homes, hospital spokeswoman Sarah Darcy said. In Boston, Brigham and Women's Hospital teamed up with Fallon Ambulance Service for door-to-door service for some patients who lived as far as 45 miles away, said that hospital's spokeswoman, Lori Schroth.