SAYLERSVILLE, Ky (WMDJ) - Two eastern Kentucky hospitals are being recognized for assisting nursing home and rehab patients during the February flooding. 

As devastating floods impacted much of Eastern Kentucky including Salyersville, long-term care facility Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center faced a critical challenge: evacuating patients.

Staff members at Morgan County ARH and ARH Our Lady of the Way worked to transfer and house the most vulnerable patients as flood waters approached.

Other patients with less critical needs were evacuated to another safe location.

“We are incredibly grateful for the swift and compassionate response from ARH. Their teams went above and beyond to ensure our patients were safe and cared for during this emergency,” said Joshua Calhoun, Administrator at Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation.

“ARH is all about the health and well-being of our communities. When we were notified SNRC needed help, every one of our decision makers was focused on one thing and one thing only: the health and safety of those residents. I give credit to the front-line staff at ARH Our Lady of the Way for providing exceptional, high-quality care, and to everyone at the system level that helped facilitate the transfer,” said Rocco Massey, CEO of Our Lady of the Way ARH.

To show their appreciation, staff at Salyersville Nursing and Rehab Center wanted to pay it forward by hosting a food drive to support ARH’s drive focused on assisting those battling food insecurity.  After a facility-wide drive, SNRC staff worked with Morgan County ARH staff to transport donations and ensure they made their way to God’s Pantry to be redistributed to the community.

For more information on how to support the ARH Foundation for Healthier Communities or to learn more about how we are supporting flood victims and our work for flood recovery, please visit www.arh.org/floods.