LOUISVILLE, Colo. — When the Marshall Fire happened, the flames came dangerously close to Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville.
In the end, the hospital was spared, but the entire building needed to be evacuated in a short amount of time.
Fifty-one patients and around 100 staff members were evacuated in a matter of hours on that day, as patients and staff were sent to other Centura hospitals for care or work.
Extensive cleaning throughout the building, which included hundreds of air scrubbers, hours put in by maintenance workers, a replacement of the Emergency Department's ceiling, cleaning and restoring equipment and much more had to be done.
On Tuesday, both those who seek care and those who provide it were welcomed back.
“There was a nurse and I gave her a flag, and she was crying because she saw this," Joseph Duran said about the welcome signs on the main road leading up to the hospital's entrance.
Duran did what he usually does outside of some hospitals, and that's hold an American flag surrounded by signs to honor and/or thank first responders.
“I want them to know that we love them and we care about them and they’re very, very special. They’re our heroes," he said.
Inside, Emergency Room Manager Caroline Fraser said it was emotional for her and her team to come back.
"Just being able to see our team come together again has been so – it’s been priceless for us," she said. "We just had the gift of having every surface touched. Every wall has been cleaned. Every bit of equipment has been serviced and reviewed.”
She also said how much cleaner the rooms looked as a whole because of the extensive cleaning and that it's helped the process to essentially reset.
“A lot of our mattresses have been replaced; they had smoke damage. All our supplies – everything has been restored. All paper that has been in the department is all gone," she said. “It’s been good for us in many ways just to help us start new policies and procedures and get things more streamlined for us. It’s been really good.”
It's a sentiment shared by Paul Heskin, the Chief Nursing Officer of Avista Adventist Hospital.
"The teamwork that we saw – every nurse, every RT, every person came in and said we want to come back as fast as we can and provide care for our community," Heskin said.
However, the feelings are bittersweet to a degree, because several employees were directly impacted by the fire.
Fraser said, “But there is a sincere sadness for our coworkers and colleagues and our community. We wish we could do more to help them."
According to a news release, Centura Health will provide some sort of financial support to its workers directly impacted by the fire.
“While many of our caregivers are still assessing the damage to their homes, to date we know 16 suffered a complete loss and 52 suffered partial damage,” said Sebastien Girard, senior vice president and chief people officer, in the news release. “Supporting the whole health – mind, body and spirit – of our impacted caregivers has been and will remain our top priority. We understand the healing and rebuilding process will take time and this is just the first step in our commitment our caregivers.”
$1.5 million is being invested towards the effort, and will help cover a portion of an impacted caregiver's temporary housing, payroll contributions and more.
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