Avista admits patients after 19-day shutdown

LOUISVILLE — Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, a Centura-affiliated hospital, reopened today, 19 days since it closed during the Marshall Fire.

The hospital, evacuated Dec. 30 as the fire raged toward it and neighborhoods around it, did not sustain burn damage but did suffer extensive smoke damage.

Today, all departments of the hospital were open, and patients were being admitted, said Kevin Massey, hospital spokesman. Operations were smooth, he said. 

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In a press statement, hospital officials said that the facility “has been undergoing extensive professional cleaning 24 hours a day with approximately 100 workers from Servpro and an industrial hygienist working to ensure the facility is safe and ready for caregivers and patients. The hospital’s air quality is in excellent condition in preparation for the first patients on Tuesday; all air filtration systems were replaced and more than 200 “air scrubbers” have been operating 24/7 since the fire.”

“Our patients can be certain that our hospital is 100% safe and fully ready to serve them,” Isaac Sendros, CEO of Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital, said in a written statement.  “Our Avista teams and professional cleaning partners are working tirelessly to clean every inch of our building, and our caregivers and I are excited to welcome our communities back and extend our healing mission as we have since 1896.”

Among Avista employees, 12 lost their homes in the fire, and others suffered a partial loss. Centura Health has offered temporary housing, financial assistance and paid time off for those unable to work, the press statement said.

“As wonderful as our reopening will be for our Avista ministry and community, we are sensitive to our colleagues who have suffered losses from the fire and the hundreds of neighbors whose homes burned while the hospital was spared,” Sendros said. “We will continue to keep them in our prayers and support them during rebuilding.”

Massey told BizWest that staff is being brought back in phases as the patient count increases. “Some staff went to other Centura hospitals to care for our patients sent there, and they’ll be brought back over time,” he said.

In coordination with local authorities during the fire, caregivers evacuated 51 patients in less than two hours, with all caregivers evacuating safely soon after, and there was no loss of life. Among the evacuated patients, 21 were discharged home and 30 were transferred to other Centura Health hospitals. None of the evacuated patients have returned to Avista as of today and are being treated at other Centura hospitals, Massey said.

Avista is a 114-bed facility with more than 600 caregivers when fully staffed.