Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital facilities come online following storm

ALBANY — As cleanup and recovery continue in the area around Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital after the Jan. 2 storms, some of its adjacent buildings have begun to get back to normal operations as power is restored.

Officials with the hospital said Tuesday that the Phoebe Community Care Clinic on Fourth Avenue, which had been closed since the storms last week, is now operational. At a Jan. 4 Board of Directors meeting for the hospital, Phoebe officials said the clinic’s closure resulted in an increase in traffic at the hospital’s emergency center the previous day.

The clinic opened last year as a means to provide a quick and cost-effective solution for minor ailments that might otherwise congest the emergency center.

The hospital posted on social media that Family Tree, which provides child care for Phoebe employees, resumed normal operations on Tuesday. While experiencing a power outage, child care was provided at alternative locations not impacted by the storm.

The hospital also reported through social media that the employee pharmacy was initially closed due to the storm. It opened shortly afterward for minimal services and has since gone back to full operation.

Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and Phoebe North were both operating on emergency power until the morning following the storm. Officials reported last week that the main campus suffered some minor roofing issues and damage to a tower on top of the hospital that was hanging off the side of the building following the storm’s passing.

Officials also reported last week that there were Phoebe physician practices impacted. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the hospital said all were back up and running on Tuesday with the exception of Phoebe Family Albany and Rheumatology at the corner of West Second Avenue and North Madison Street, which is currently seeing patients at the main campus as well as at the Meredyth Place complex.

The storm had an extensive impact on tree life in the area around the hospital, resulting in damage and power losses to surrounding buildings. The damage was the result of a system that brought in straight-line winds up to 85 mph in Albany while also producing several tornadoes in Southwest Georgia, including one near the city limits going into Worth County.