Harborview Health Systems of Pierce County has the duty of caring for some of Pierce’s most vulnerable citizens during the onslaught of Hurricane Helene and the aftermath that followed. From Thursday night to Monday morning the facility was on emergency generator power.
“I want to thank Georgia Power for getting our power back on as soon as possible,” said Administrator Sharon McPherson. “And not just them. I believe Mayor Brooks and his wife Ms. Pam were also instrumental in getting us help. We have had a lot of support from our workers and the community.”
“Our greatest strength was our staff. The first day was a challenge, but we perservered,” said Becky Bradley, Director of Nursing at Harborview. “After that, even when they didn’t have power or water at their own homes, they still came in to help out here.”
McPherson also credits proper preparation for the seamlessness of their service, citing meetings to coordinate with Pierce Emergency Management Agency Blake James and Blackshear Fire Chief Bucky Goble. Blackshear Police Chief Chris Wright also provided McPherson with a functioning phone so they could stay in touch with first responders.
McPherson and Director of Maintenance Carl Taylor stayed on site Thursday night, riding out the arrival of the storm with the 68 residents under their care. The next day, it was back to business as usual. There was a facility to run and residents to care for.
Harborview sheltered 68 seniors as Hurricane Helene tore her way through Pierce County.
Interviewed on Thursday, McPherson still did not have power at her own home in Waycross, but such inconveniences did little to deter her or her dedicated team.
Over the weekend even more workers showed up to help, on the schedule or not. Families of residents also arrived, offeirng to do what they could. Emmanuel Baptist Church donated meals and the Board of Education provided nonpersihable goods. Dennis Bargeron brought them truckloads of water.
Harborview’s kitchen uses propane to cook, so residents had no interruption in hot meals. In fact, there were no significant interruptions in most services they offer their residents. One slight hiccup was with transportation. Off site dialysis facilities had no power until generators were up and running Sunday, so Friday appointments were delayed and staff or in one instance a resident’s family had to use personal vehicles to get two residents to dialysis in Waycross and another two to Alma.
“Thank goodness we have a new roof” Bradley said, “No leaks! The building itself was built in 1953, so it is a good, strong structure.”
As for the seniors themselves, they held up very well in a difficult situation. “Our residents did great,” said Megan Lloyd, Assistant Director of Nursing, “They were calm, no one complained and they felt safe.”
Perhaps the best indicator of how well the Harborview team pulled together to protect and care for their residents during Helene, Bradley mentions with a smile that one elderly gentleman slept through the whole thing and remarked the next morning that he did not realize there had even been a storm.
Without working gas stations, the Harborview bus was briefly out of order and personal vehicles were used to transport residents to their dialysis appointments.
