After Katrina: Is I.T. Ready for Another Killer Storm? - 'ZIFFPAGE TITLEBetter'

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For Graser, Katrina showed that West Jefferson Medical Center had to be prepared to be as self-sufficient as possible, for as long as possible. What he anticipated might be a 48-hour crisis turned into a 17-day one, during which the hospital had no access to its normal operational computer systems.

One problem was that the staff was out of practice doing business in a manual, paper-based mode. For example, sorting out the status of patients who had been transferred or discharged became a problem after the crisis, Graser says. Since then, the hospital has developed a completely manual system for tracking patients, as well as for disseminating test results.

During Katrina, West Jefferson's phone service was also interrupted. Because the hospital's backup generator wasn't powerful enough to run the building's air conditioning, the phone switching equipment overheated and wouldn't function.

The hospital addressed these shortcomings with a more powerful generator capable of keeping the entire hospital running, including elevators, air conditioners, and computer and phone systems, according to Graser. He has replaced the old phone system with VoIP equipment that, in addition to being more modern, is lighter and more practical to relocate if part of the building is damaged.

Graser also wants to move the hospital's computer room from the first floor to the fifth, as a defense against flooding, but construction is taking longer than he had expected. Overall, he says, "I believe we've done everything humanly possible, everything that was within our purview, to be better prepared."