Eastern LI Hospital Evacuates Patients, Emergency Room Stays Open

Representatives of Eastern Long Island Hospital announced Monday afternoon that patients requiring hospitalization at the Greenport hospital will be transferred to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead or Stony Brook Hospital for treatment as part of the hospital’s emergency evacuation plan in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Patients that are medically cleared have been discharged, said Eastern Long Island Hospital’s CEO Paul Connor, and that doctors have cancelled elective surgery for Tuesday and will “play it by ear” for Wednesday.

The emergency room will remain open throughout Hurricane Sandy, he said. The hospital has coordinated the emergency management plan with Southold Town and Suffolk County. Extra supplies — food, drugs, etc., have been stocked. To protect the physical plant, which is under sea level at the hospital located on the banks of Stirling Harbor in Greenport, a series of dykes have been built to prevent flooding.

“We also have internal pumps to prevent flooding of the lower level,” Connor said. “We have high capacity pumps that can be deployed in case of a surge and all fuel tanks are topped off.”

The hospital did not evacuate before Tropical Storm Irene hit last August.