Wine Country doctors save lives, lose homes

As a flurry of ash began to fall from the sky outside Santa Rosa Memorial hospital Monday afternoon, Elizabeth and Joseph Tito took comfort in controlling what they could: the flow of ambulances, cars and panicked families in and out of the hospital’s main parking lot.

The Tito family had evacuated their new home in Fountaingrove, an upscale community north of downtown Santa Rosa, about 3 a.m. Monday after seeing flames licking the tops of nearby hills. They had just moved to the area in August — an attempt to escape East Coast blizzards and “bad weather,” Elizabeth Tito said.

“I guess we traded the blizzards for fire,” she said.

Elizabeth and Joseph Tito, who work as surgeons at St. Joseph Health’s outpatient facility and Healdsburg District Hospital, respectively, said they were happy for the distraction of directing traffic.

It kept them from spending too much time wondering whether their home was still standing.

Santa Rosa Memorial was the northernmost hospital to remain open in the midst of the North Bay fires Monday.

Officials said the hospital opened its command center about 1 a.m. and has since seen a steady stream of people in need of care.

About 60 people arrived at Santa Rosa Memorial throughout Monday morning, including two burn patients in critical condition, 15 people with moderate injuries and 43 with minor injuries, Colleen Flynn, a spokeswoman for the St. Joseph Health group said.

Santa Rosa Memorial, Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa and Petaluma Valley Hospital remained open as of about 3 p.m. None of the medical centers had suffered any structural damage, officials said.

Santa Rosa Memorial also accepted evacuees from our neighboring hospitals — including six transfers from Kaiser Santa Rosa, which was evacuated and shut down, and six from Sutter Medical Center.

Among the patients transferred from Sutter were several mothers with newborns as well as expectant mothers in active labor.

Queen of the Valley, in downtown Napa, treated about 50 patients, the majority of whom were suffering from smoke inhalation, Flynn said. One patient brought to Queen of the Valley was transferred to a burn center due to the severity of the patient’s injuries. About four people were treated for minor burns and released.

Petaluma Valley Hospital had not treated any burn victims as of late afternoon Monday. Six patients suffered mild to moderate injuries related to the fire and smoke hanging in the air throughout the North Bay, including shortness of breath, dizziness, asthma, and smoke inhalation.

Petaluma Valley took in 28 patients, including several who needed to be evacuated from Sutter Medical Center, Kaiser Santa Rosa and senior living facilities in the area.

Following the early morning rush of burn patients and those suffering injuries directly related to the wildfires, Flynn said, the hospitals began to see waves of patients coming in with injuries related to evacuations, including car crashes and injuries from falling.

“We implore the public to take all necessary precautions and be safe; heed all evacuation orders; don’t speed; do not venture out unless it is necessary,” she said in a statement.

Some people, unsure of where else to go, turned up at area hospitals. Flynn emphasized that those without injuries should seek help at shelters, not medical centers.

But for the Tito family, the hospital has become their temporary refuge. After evacuating Fountaingrove about 3 a.m., the family took shelter in Elizabeth Tito’s office, where their youngest child, 11, and pets remained Monday afternoon.

“We keep running into people out here who say they lost everything, that all they have left is in a backpack or a bag,” Elizabeth Tito said. “People who forgot their medication and inhalers on their way out. It’s surreal.”

Chad Krilich, the chief medical officer at Santa Rosa Memorial, said many doctors who reported for duty Monday had lost their homes just hours before.

The hospital was providing on-site accommodations for staff and volunteers who needed a place to sleep.

Krilich was one such doctor, who assumed his home was gone. He said he grabbed two photos — a picture of his wedding day and one of his children — five pairs of underwear and Hip Hop, the family’s aquatic turtle, before fleeing his Santa Rosa home about 2 a.m. and heading into work.

By late afternoon Monday, Santa Rosa Memorial had treated 160 people. Krilich said the staff anticipates that number will climb to around 200 — a jump from the typical patient load of about 125 a day.

Of those 160 patients, 90 people were admitted with wildfire-related injuries, including 12 with burns. Three remain in the hospital, four were transferred to burn centers due to the severity of their injuries and five were treated and released earlier in the day.

All non-urgent surgeries scheduled for Tuesday at Petaluma Valley and Santa Rosa Memorial have been cancelled to allow the hospitals to focus on the “community’s most pressing surgical needs” for patients “in need of life-saving or time-sensitive procedures,” Flynn said.

A walk-in clinic will remain open in Santa Rosa at 510 Doyle Park Drive until 10 p.m. for people who have non-urgent medical needs, the hospital group said.

Santa Rosa Memorial said it had been adequately staffed all day, with at least 10 doctors who arrived from out-of-area hospitals to pitch in.

In coming days, Krilich warned, the hospital may lose manpower as doctors and nurses whose houses were destroyed in the blaze leave to take care of whatever remains of their homes.

Anyone seeking to help is advised to call the labor pool at 707-525-5300, ext. 5105.