Local hospital evacuation due to a mechanical malfunction of emergency generators

NEW IBERIA, La (IMC)- During Hurricane/Tropical Storm Barry there was a mechanical malfunction with Iberia Medical Center emergency generators on Sunday, July 14, 2019 at 1:08 am. The Plant Operations staff responded immediately and generator mechanics were dispatched immediately after recognizing there was an issue. Generator power to the entire hospital was restored at 3:15 am and a generator technician is remaining on site until CLECO power is restored. Iberia Medical Center proactively went on generator power at 2:00 pm Saturday, July 13 approximately one an hour before CLECO power was lost.

Hospital Administration proactively notified Region 4 regarding the outage. At the recommendation of Region 4, Iberia Medical Center Administration made the decision to continue the full evacuation. All patients were evacuated to area hospitals safely as of 6:15 am on Sunday, July 14. Hospital staff is notifying family members as to location of the evacuated patients. The emergency department remains open but with limited capabilities. Acadian Ambulance has a unit stationed at the ER.

Iberia Medical staff was outstanding and the evacuation was executed flawlessly. Iberia Medical Center would like to thank everyone involved in the evacuation including IMC staff, physicians, Region 4, Iberia Parish Emergency Operations Center, Iberia Parish Government, National Guard, Acadian Ambulance, New Iberia Police Department, New Iberia Fire Department, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana National Guard and all the receiving hospitals