Ballad Health marks one year since Hurricane Helene

Ballad Health marks one year since Hurricane Helene with a commitment to rebuild.Ballad Health leaders reflected Thursday on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, honoring the teamwork that saved lives at Unicoi County Hospital and outlining the future of rural health care in the region.Eric Deaton, chief operating officer for Ballad Health, and Dr. Sean Ochsenbein, chief medical officer at Unicoi County Hospital, recalled the chaos of the storm as floodwaters rose around the facility.Deaton said the situation escalated quickly with water reaching the property by 10:00 a.m."By noon, it was starting to rise within the hospital, and at that point, we were working with the folks on the ground here," Deaton said. "Leaders said that they needed to go to the roof of the hospital, and so they, working with the emergency management teams within Unicoi County, started helping patients get out of the hospital and got our team members to the roof of the hospital.With helicopters grounded by high winds and boats unable to withstand the current, staff and patients were forced to the roof."It was a very scary time for us," Deaton said. "Fortunately, I do believe God's hand was in what happened that day, and eventually, we were fortunate to get help from the National Guard out of Knoxville and the Virginia State Police out of Abingdon to fly and rescue our team members and their patients."Ochsenbein, who had previous training as a swiftwater rescue technician, said the response showed how partners came together during the storm."This was a community effort, and that's really the shining part out of the story," he said. "With Ballad Health, our EMA partners, our team of partners — we were all on scene that morning, saving lives and making people feel heard and comforted as we were going up on the roof."Ochsenbein said the storm left visible reminders of loss but also highlighted progress."In this hospital, standing here with the scars on its side, it not only reminds me of what we went through, but it reminds me of how far we've come as a community and as a healthcare system in Appalachia, treating patients most at need up in the mountains," Ochsenbein said. "That is our mission, and that's what we continue to do."Deaton said the loss of the hospital was especially difficult because the building was so new."Most of our hospitals are in rural locations, and so this was our newest rural hospital within the system," he said. "It was built in 2018, and so that's one of the most heartbreaking things about it.Deaton said Ballad Health is moving forward with plans to secure a property in the community and eventually rebuild."We're committed to this community," Deaton said. "We have an option on another property in the community, so that's settled at this point. We're not ready to disclose that location yet, but we are working for that. We're absolutely focused on rebuilding and having access to healthcare in our rural areas."Deaton also said rebuilding must take into account financial pressures that rural hospitals face across the country currently as federal funding is rolled back."We are on hold right now, from a rebuilding standpoint," Deaton said. "In about two and a half years, there are going to be some pretty dramatic impacts to reimbursement that we receive, particularly for Medicaid.""This facility was about 35% Medicaid patients, and you also see a fairly high number of Medicare patients," he added. "Because of that decrease in funding, we have to make sure that we rebuild the facility, which could cost $50 to $60 million, we're able to financially thrive as a facility also."Ochsenbein said the events reinforced the resilience of the community and the ongoing commitment to healthcare in the region."I would just say that Appalachian Highlands is strong," he said. "Our people are strong. We know that we're going to continue to push forward to advance health care in this region. The people deserve that, and the communities deserve that.""Even though this hospital was lost, the care that we continue to provide in the area is still there," he said.Until the rebuild can occur, an advanced urgent care clinic was set up in Unicoi County directly after the storm. The temporary location is at 800 S. Mohawk Drive, Suite C in Erwin for limited services.