Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Success at Guam Memorial Hospital
Release Date: March 5, 2003
Release Number: 1446-47a
» More Information on Guam Super Typhoon Pongsona
Guam Memorial Hospital suffered more than $1 million in damage following Typhoon Paka in December 1997. Because the facility is of critical importance, Guam officials decided to take steps to prevent similar damage caused by future typhoons or storms. Two such projects were funded through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HGMP). These projects proved their worth when Typhoon Pongsona struck Guam.
The HMGP program provides a 75 percent federal cost share for projects designed to minimize or prevent damage caused by future disasters. The largest mitigation project at Guam Memorial Hospital involved enclosing several areas of the facility, with a total cost of $4.3 million. As part of this project, two open corridors on the ground floor were enclosed. During Typhoon Pongsona no damage was sustained in these corridors, providing safe passage to the facility by staff and patients.
Several other areas of the hospital were also fortified as part of this project:
- Rear Stairwell -- With elevators out of operations due to no power and damaged generators, the stairs served as the only way to move about the hospital. Hospital administrators were quoted as saying "the enclosed stairway saved us...it was a blessing!" The stairway also allowed maintenance workers access to keep the hospital running. The stairwell sustained only minor water damage during the typhoon.
- Enclosed Elevator Lobbies -- These spaces were secure and free of storm debris during the typhoon and were able to be used as storage, staging and recovery areas during and after the typhoon.
- Enclosing The Rear Courtyard -- This area was a hazard during Typhoon Paka, as cyclonic winds formed in the open space. Now enclosed, the area was one of the most secure in the hospital and during Typhoon Pongsona served to store equipment and temporarily house patients who were evacuated from unsafe wards.
- Enclosing Third And Fourth Floor Solariums -- This formerly glassed in area was an extreme hazard making the wards on the third and fourth floor extremely vulnerable during previous storms. Having been enclosed prior to Typhoon Pongsona, those wards were safe and able to continue functioning.
A smaller, but equally important project was the strengthening of the oxygen storage facility. This project cost about $50,000. The facility was covered by a chain link mesh that serves to deflect and repel flying debris. During Typhoon Pongsona, Minor damage occurred to the chain link mesh but there was no disruption to the availability and accessibility to medical grade oxygen.
Hazard mitigation proved itself mightily during Typhoon Pongsona at Guam Memorial Hospital. Hospital staff was universal in their praise of these mitigation projects. Having enclosed areas allowed the hospital staff to move patients from three different floors into other spaces that during previous storms were inaccessible or did not exist.
Heroic efforts by maintenance staff secured damaged areas during the Typhoon and facilitated the movement of patients and equipment. These efforts coupled with the Mitigation projects, very likely averted an extremely serious, possibly life threatening situation at the only public full service health care facility on Guam.
The hospital also learned that it still has some areas that it can further strengthen. During Typhoon Pongsona, the facility still received some damage due to failure of doors, shutters and windows. Hospital officials are looking at projects to upgrade these areas.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 15-May-2007 15:23:33