Latest news with #JohnsHopkinsAllChildren'sHospital
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital invests millions into storm readiness
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — Last year's hurricane season hit Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital particularly hard, causing $1.5 million in damages. This left the hospital unable to provide care for a short period following Hurricane Milton. Johns Hopkins lost sewer, water and power during that time, as well as suffering communications disruptions. BayCare breaks ground on new hospital coming to Manatee County This year, they have poured $37 million into storm preparation, including relocating their steam line system which plays a vital role to the hospital. 'Steam is critical because it actually allow us to heat and cool our building,' said Justin Olsen, Johns Hopkins' chief operating officer. 'It sanitizes and provides us an opportunity to autoclave and sanitize all of our equipment, and it also provides hot water. We couldn't stay open without steam. We think it's the only way we can ensure safety again during a significant storm.' Olsen says relocating the steam line cost will 12 million, but this investment will strengthen the hospital's capability of withstanding future storms safely while remaining operational and able to provide care to their patients. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
All Children's Hospital to spend millions improving campus ahead of storm season
The Brief Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is investing $37 million into improving its campus. Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused over a million dollars in damage to the hospital. The money will go towards relocating the hospital's steam line, improving its communication apparatus, sprinkler systems and more. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is investing $37 million into hardening the hospital's campus. Hurricanes Helene and Milton's wrath didn't spare the hospital with them causing about $1.5 million in damage. The backstory "We had a lot of significant impact from utilities and other such systems that we really have to harden and get ready for the next storm," said Chief Operating Officer Justin Olsen. "As you're aware, we're a critical infrastructure hospital, and so, essentially, we can't close down. We have to shelter in place, and to be able to do that, we need to have all of our systems operating." "We had water come through windows that don't open. We had a lot of roof and other types of, you know, sign issues," said Olsen, detailing other damage. Hospital Upgrades The $37 million in upgrades includes $12 million to move the steam line from its current location down the street from the hospital, to right next to the hospital. "That is something that's been getting worse with each sort of rain event and storm that comes through, but really in the last storm we realized we needed to act immediately," Olsen said. "Right now, it tunnels under the street for a couple of blocks, and that's where it gets water in there, and it actually starts to corrode the steam line, and that is why we have such issues." READ: Wall collapses at Tampa USPS package sorting facility The steam line is used to sterilize all of their equipment, heat the hospital, provide hot water and more. "When the air conditioning is working, you actually have to add heat in to keep it at the right temperature," Olsen said. During Hurricane Milton, the hospital lost sewer, water and power, so they are also working on a way to hold sewage for several hours. "We have to be here. We couldn't even probably transfer all of our kids. They're so critical and sick, and we're the only place that can really take care of them. So, we look at any vulnerability. We identify that as fast as we can," Olsen said. They're also investing a couple of million dollars into more satellite communications, so communications don't deteriorate like they did during the last storms. Money will also be used to add more wells on campus. "So our sprinkler systems, which are designed to hold water, can maintain their pressure throughout the storm. We didn't have enough water for that in the last storm," he said. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube Big picture view Olsen said they are planning to apply for local grants to help cover the cost. "The vast majority of our kids are lower-income. Our families are lower-income. We think that because of that and the immediate need, there is an opportunity to use some of the grants that have been provided to either Pinellas County or the city to help us," Olsen said. "We're not asking for all of it, but we would love some assistance because this is really dollars that we're taking away from patient programs for lower-income families to try to improve the infrastructure to make sure we can stay open." What's next Olsen said they're paying for the projects up front, though, because they're so crucial. The steam line project should be completed in less than a year. The Source FOX 13's Kailey Tracy collected the information in this story. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS LIVE: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Yahoo
All Children's says Maya trial and $208 million verdict flawed
TAMPA — Can a hospital be held liable for the suicide of a mother who had not stepped foot on its campus for more than three months? More than one year after a civil trial found that Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital falsely imprisoned and battered a 10-year-old Venice girl and contributed to her mother's suicide, hospital attorneys on Wednesday argued in a Tampa appellate court for a retrial or for the court to, at least, strike down some of the $208 million in damages. Beata Kowalski took her life in 2017, three months after a judge sheltered her daughter, Maya Kowalski, at All Children's where doctors had reported the mother for suspected medical child abuse. All Children's attorney Derek Stikeleather said the jury had found the hospital contributed to the mother's suicide even though it had no duty of care toward her, an extremely rare conclusion in Florida case law. He told the three judge panel from the Florida Second District Court of Appeal that no evidence had been produced that justified the jury's award of $5 million for the hospital fraudulently billing the family's insurance company. And the jury incorrectly found the hospital liable for conduct that should have been given immunity under state laws that protect agencies and others acting on behalf of Florida's child welfare system, he said. He characterized the amount of damages awarded as 'wildly off the mark.' 'These three major errors set the stage for wild allegations that this is a hospital that kidnapped and tortured a little girl in order to kill her mother,' Stikeleather said. 'That did not give the hospital a fair trial and a retrial is necessary.' The three judges asked Stikeleather a series of questions that suggest the hospital faces a high bar to overturn the results of the eight-week civil jury trial that concluded in November 2023. Judge Andrea T. Smith asked whether immunity extended to potentially harmful acts such as intentional infliction of emotional distress, one of the counts that the jury regarded as grounds for the hospital's part in the mother's suicide. There were also questions about the hospital's refusal to let the family remove their child from the St. Petersburg hospital. The court is expected to rule in the coming months. All Children's has much riding on the verdict. The hospital was maligned on social media after the case gained international acclaim through the Netflix documentary 'Take Care of Maya.' The award represents almost a third of the $702 million in revenue that the St. Petersburg hospital reported on its 2022 tax return, the most recent available. Additionally, if the appeal fails, the hospital will also be liable for interest, which has been accruing at roughly $55,000 per day. Michael Tanner, the appellate attorney for the Kowalski family, argued that the jury awarded damages based on the actions carried out by hospital employees and not social workers acting on behalf of the state. The Kowalski family sued the hospital in 2018 claiming that the hospital blocked the family from leaving the hospital with their child prior to a judge approving the state's request to remove her from her family. The hospital's report to the state abuse hotline was based on concerns that the child, who had been diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, was being prescribed high doses of ketamine. The lawsuit also detailed doctors placing the girl in a room equipped with video surveillance for one 48-hour period to try and prove she was faking her symptoms. On another occasion, she was told to strip her down to her shorts and training bra and was photographed without permission from her parents or a court. A hospital social worker sometimes kissed and hugged the girl and had her sit on her lap. The jury's initial award of $261 million was later reduced by roughly $50 million by the trial judge who also dismissed the hospital's calls for a new trial. Tanner also disputed that the damages were excessive. Maya Kowalski, who is now 19, was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and chronic major depressive disorder as a result of the trauma she endured, he said. 'The numbers are large no doubt,' he said. 'But we have to remember that these injuries were done to a 10-year-old child who then would suffer those injuries for the rest of her life.'
