By Jonathan Shorman, Cayli Yanagida
The Kansas City Star
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Doctors and nurses need to eat – even in blizzards.
After an ambulance transported a patient to AdventHealth Shawnee Mission on Sunday night, the crew discovered an empty snack room. Day shift nurses, who had stayed over because others couldn’t travel in, apologized, explaining they didn’t have any food.
“When the ambulance got back to our station, they talked to all my crew and they were like ‘well, that’s not OK. There are no restaurants open anywhere,’” Overland Park Fire Department Capt. Stan McDonald said.
When OPFD crews from Station 41 and @JoCoMedAct learned that the kitchen staff couldn't make it in to @AdventHealth Shawnee Mission last night and the ER staff was held over to work, they raided their own pantry, cooked up meals and delivered them to the ER. #SurvivingTheStorm pic.twitter.com/5ZZhnql3Y8
— Overland Park Fire Department (@OverlandParkFD) January 6, 2025
The firefighters of Station 41, just east of the hospital on 75th Street , “raided their own pantry” – as the fire department put it – to whip up a pancake breakfast with eggs and fruit for the emergency room staff.
Across the Kansas City metro, the critical institutions that keep the area running – hospitals, law enforcement agencies, fire departments and others – have literally weathered a storm that shut down schools, businesses and some government offices. Even a day after the snow stopped falling, temperatures remain well below freezing and road conditions remain spotty in some areas.
But these vital services can’t shut down. So how do they adapt when it’s dangerous for their employees to commute?
The answer is with preparation, beds, all-terrain vehicles and generosity.
“For our guys to recognize a need and be able to quickly find a solution, take care of it and pay it forward — it’s a testament to the crews we work with, day in and day out,” McDonald said.
He acknowledged the situation was unusual since the ER staff are not typically those needing the help but said it was good to identify what his crew needed to do at that moment. He called it a “different way to help.”
How hospitals prepared
Multiple hospitals in Kansas City put extensive plans in place last week as it became clear the winter storm wouldn’t be typical. The University of Kansas Health System, Saint Luke’s and Children’s Mercy cleared the way for employees to stay overnight in an effort to avoid treacherous travel. Collectively, hundreds if not thousands of employees across the institutions effectively slept at work.
AdventHealth did its best to fully prepare, including having transportation set up for those who needed to come into work, said spokesperson Nicole Fowler. That included using personal vehicles but at one particularly severe part of the storm on Sunday, transportation services had to be suspended because of visibility and safety concerns.
In turn, this created a staffing shortage in the hospital’s nutrition department. Patient care and meals were prioritized over staff. While there was a surplus of food around the hospital, it wasn’t anything as substantial as what the firefighters delivered.
“Oftentimes, during these storms, it’s easy to think you can take a snow day, or you can stay home — obviously, that doesn’t translate to health care,” Fowler said. “The community needs its EMS providers to deliver the care that they need when they need it. We just couldn’t take the day off.
“We are so grateful that in times like this, when stress levels are high or when we are uncertain if we are going to get home the next day, that we are able to provide that care to each other — not just direct patient care — but caring for our team members and caring for our community.”
Chris Ruder, the University of Kansas Health System’s senior vice president and chief operating officer for the Kansas City division, said the health system has long had plans in place to respond to winter weather emergencies. Housing for staff, either before or after shifts, is a key piece.
Before the storm, plans identified locations within the health system’s campus with beds available. Employees – both medical and non-medical personnel – were able to reserve rooms for shifts when they knew they would want rest. Hundreds of employees stayed on campus over the course of the weekend.
“Housing accommodations are one thing we’ve done for a long time,” Ruder said.
In a statement, Children’s Mercy said it provided staff lodging, with 165 individuals reserving space. The hospital called that a “record number for team members staying onsite during a severe weather event.”
All Saint Luke’s hospitals also hosted staff overnight, said spokesperson Dan Cohen. While Cohen didn’t have exact numbers, food and “hygiene needs” were also offered to employees in addition to sleeping areas, Cohen wrote in an email.
“Like many other institutions, the dangerous road conditions made travel not possible for some,” Cohen said. “However, our caregivers and staff are extremely dedicated to not only our patients but to their colleagues and others volunteered to come in and cover for those staff who couldn’t make it.”
Others volunteered to drive employees to and from work, he added.
ATV rides
Some healthcare workers and first responders have gotten to work the past few days with the help of all-terrain vehicles. Midwest Krawlers, an off-road club, activated its “Snow Squad” to provide rides to essential workers across the metro.
Upwards of 50 drivers have volunteered over the past few days, said Michael Finwick, the club’s community outreach coordinator. At times, 20 requests have come in every 15 minutes – all tracked by spreadsheet.
He wasn’t sure exactly how many rides the group had provided but placed the number at over 300 as of Monday afternoon.
“It’s been a phenomenal amount of requests that have come in,” Finwick said.
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