Hurricane Irma pushes Georgia patients inland

The Georgia Department of Health is already in the process of getting patients along the Georgia coast to facilities that are more inland.

Dr. Patrick O'Neal with the Georgia Department of Public Health says they are concerned about the impact this monster storm may have on hospitals and nursing homes along the coast.

“We are in the process of evacuating a lot of those facilities inland,” O’Neal says.

O’Neal says nearly 60 babies had to be moved. He adds that about a half a dozen or so were brought to Children Healthcare of Atlanta.

They have evacuated babies from the neonatal nursery at Memorial Health center in Savannah.

“In a previous evacuation, we actually had seven deaths that were actually associated with difficulties that occurred during the evacuation itself,” O’Neal says.

The hope is to have all the patients in a safe place before the storm hits.

For more from the Georgia Department of Public Health, click here.