So Far So Good For Philly Hospitals Coping With SEPTA Strike
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Hospitals in the city seem to be dealing well with the SEPTA strike.
Every hospital has its own plan for dealing with staff and patients alike. The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania helped coordinate a regional effort.
After all, this isn't the first time they've had to address an issue that makes it difficult for people to get to them. There was the Papal Visit, the Democratic National Convention, even snowstorms and past SEPTA strikes to look back on.
"We have a lot of staff, patients and visitors that use mass transit in order to access our facilities," Association spokesman Mark Ross told KYW Newsradio. "So some of them are experiencing some delays in getting there. But we haven't had any critical issues."
The group is monitoring things from a central location in Philadelphia. Shuttles and car pools are getting doctors and nurses in and out.
As for out-patient procedures, heads-up calls were part of the pre-strike plan.
"Contacts from the doctor's office have gone out to make sure that the patient's aware that this was a potential so that they could schedule and make arrangements accordingly," Ross said.
In some cases, those procedures were set up for another day. And like everything else in a SEPTA strike, the closer you get to Center City, the more acute your delay could be.
