Manatee Memorial Hospital announced on Sept. 8 that they would be closing due to Hurricane Irma and their location in a mandatory evacuation zone.

  • Hospital in a Zone A location
  • Some patients evacuated by bus, others by ambulance
  • Nurses being sent home, staff will secure the building

Some of the hospital's patients were evacuated to other area hospitals by bus, while others were transported by ambulance.

"This is a major task for a hospital," said hospital CEO Kevin DiLallo. "You have to work with many different people within the community and in our hospital. As you can imagine with the different illnesses and the different diseases we deal with and surgeries, children and NICU babies, we need several specialists to make sure they are transported with some of those specialists."

DiLallo said the hospital's location near the water is the primary reason they're evacuating.

"We will be in a very precarious situation with storm surge coming over the wall," DiLallo said. "As many people know, Manatee Memorial is located right on the river, and I can tell you I’ve never had to evacuate a hospital like this. But I think it’s the best thing for our patients and the best thing for our community that we exit the hospital."

DiLallo went on say the hospital's nurses are being sent home, while staff secure the building before Irma's arrival. When the hospital re-opens, according to DiLallo, will depend on storm damage.