When Commitment Calls

Ray Bernardi has covered a lot of ground in the last 13 years. He was the director of pharmacy at another Luzerne County hospital, then, with Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, in charge of operations at Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Hazleton and LVH–Schuylkill before moving on to LVH–Dickson City. He shoulders all regulatory and financial responsibility for the hospital, and while he has had emergencies arise in the middle of the night, nothing compared to the fire that struck Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, right next to the hospital, on Feb. 4. 

I was home, in bed. I received a call from the nursing director. Then my texts went off.

I was startled. I immediately got dressed and headed to the hospital, connecting with other leaders who were also on their way.

Our primary concern was to get everyone out. When I arrived, the Orthopedic Institute had long been evacuated, and the firefighters had cleared two floors of the hospital and were working on the main floor. I met the fire chief, and we went into the emergency department to make sure no one was there. They had cut the power to help make sure the fire didn’t spread to the hospital building. 

Fortunately, all 71 people were safely evacuated from both buildings. We lease a building two doors down, so everyone was taken there, including patients we moved on gurneys. We took all the supplies the staff would need to temporarily care for them. The evacuation process was a tremendous job – especially on a 10 degree F night. Everyone cooperated to get it done quickly.

Eight volunteer fire companies responded to the call. There were hundreds of first responders, police, firefighters and ambulances there – it was unreal. What I remember most was that the emergency crews came to the building and remained through the night. They calmly did what they had to do. 

The next morning, senior executives met with remediation crews on-site to start processing and correcting smoke and water damage so we could reopen the hospital quickly. Before long, there were many people inside the building. Everyone cooperated – from contractors and city personnel to health inspectors. And we reopened the doors just nine days later. 

An experience like this puts a hyper focus on the worst-case scenario and what could happen. It’s a learning experience for the staff about not taking precautions for granted – such as propping fire doors open, for example. When you do that, if a fire starts, the fire spreads. People understand it now at Dickson City. These things were always on my mind before but now they’re on my mind at volume 10. 

We’ve come together before for emergencies, but this is a whole different level. You need to bond to get through an event like this, and it’s a bond that can never be broken. These are 100 percent some of the best people I could ever hope to work with, and I can’t thank them enough for that night and the days that came after.