When Reagan Wells was offered the opportunity to stay overnight at Medical City Lewisville, where she works, the registered nurse gratefully accepted.
“They’re giving us food, showering supplies and things like that and it just makes me feel appreciated, cared for and safe, so I don’t have to put myself in danger going to and from working here,” she said.
Wells works in the mother-baby unit, where women are monitored after childbirth.
“I’m just really thankful for a company and managers who care enough and who have advocated for us and who give us the supplies to be able to do that,” Wells added.
With snow on the roads and below-freezing temperatures, Medical City Lewisville has worked to ensure the safety of its staff for the duration of storm Landon. According to weather reports, the inclement weather is expected to subside on Saturday, February 5.
“Medical City Lewisville never closes, regardless of the weather. Across Medical City Healthcare, special arrangements and accommodations are being offered within the hospitals and nearby hotels so that our colleagues can stay safe,” said the Director of Community and Public Relations for Medical City Lewisville and Medical City ER Flower Mound Tanya Nguyen Gandy.
“We’re fortunate here at Medical City Lewisville right now to have some capacity and rooms that are not needed by our patients at the moment and so we’ve identified forty-five different rooms that we are able to offer to our staff with beds, bathroom showers, and of course television,” said Megan Gallegos, Medical City Lewisville’s chief nursing officer. “If they need a place to sleep after their shifts, they can do that safely here.”
The hospital is also providing meals to workers who sleep over between shifts.
“We have a wonderful food and nutrition director and team here who have put together care packages and meals — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — for our staff who do remain overnight with us,” Gallegos added. “It is our commitment to ensure that they stay healthy, well-rested, and energized so that they can give the highest quality of care to our patients.”
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, the extra precautions are in response to falling temperatures, a predicted three inches of snow accumulation, and an inch of ice brought on by winter storm Landon.
The dangerous winter conditions that have arrived in North Texas this week could potentially sideline transportation.
“We are lucky here to have a policy that allows our employees to act as drivers in the event of inclement weather and we have, currently, five drivers who are actually leaders of all different kinds here at our facility who have all lived in inclement weather-type areas at one point,” Gallegos said. “So, they are very comfortable on the roads.”
Staff will be evaluating road conditions throughout the day to ensure that it is safe for employees to drive, according to Gallegos.
“We will dispatch and coordinate who needs a ride, who can go and pick them up and ensure that they all remain safe,” she said. “It allows our employees to get to work so that they can work their shift and so that they can take care of our patients and they don’t have to be scared to drive on the road themselves.”
The chief nursing officer explained that the measures Medical City is taking for its staff reflect the hospital’s values.
“We have to take care of the caregiver and we always want to make sure that we’re doing that in a way that’s one of like family,” Gallegos told The Dallas Express. “We like to say that we care like family here. So, taking care of our colleagues is a priority for us. It’s something that we have fun doing. We enjoy it. It’s part of our culture here and it helps us ensure that we are the right place to get the right care and that our patients remain safe.”
