Main Line Health becomes region’s only health system recognized as StormReady® by National Weather Service
Bryn Mawr, PA — Main Line Health has become Southeastern Pennsylvania’s only health system to receive the National Weather Service’s StormReady® designation—a program designed to save lives and increase resilience to hurricanes, winter storms and other weather-related hazards.
The StormReady program is designed to encourage communities, including health systems and other organizations, to be prepared for weather-related disasters. An average of 500 are killed and nearly $15 billion in damage is caused by extreme weather events, numbers that the program seeks to improve.
Main Line Health, which serves Philadelphia and its western suburbs, is one of only seven commercial entities across Pennsylvania with the designation and one of four hospital/health systems. Main Line Health includes four acute care hospitals—Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital—and a team of nearly 13,000 employees and more than 2,000 physicians caring for patients.
“Although this winter has provided a welcome break from extreme weather conditions, we know how prone our region is to massive storms and flooding that cause death and property damage,” said Armand Alessi, Director of Emergency Management. “We play a critical role when weather-related disasters arise. I am pleased with the detailed plans we have in place to be ready when conditions require it.”
To become a StormReady site, the Main Line Health Public Safety Emergency Management Team coordinated with a local NWS office on a plan that entails maintaining a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center; implementing multiple ways to receive NWS warnings to alert the staff; using a system to monitor local weather conditions; promoting the importance of public readiness through community events, and addressing hazardous weather and flooding in its formal emergency management blueprint.
The designation is valid for four years and can be renewed.
About Main Line Health
Main Line Health® is a not-for-profit health system serving the greater Philadelphia region. The System comprises five hospitals, seven health centers, more than 160 outpatient and physician practice locations, over 14,500 employees and more than 2,200 employed and independent physicians and advanced practice providers.
Founded in 1985, Main Line Health includes four of the region’s most respected acute care hospitals — Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital — as well as Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, one of the nation’s premier facilities for rehabilitative medicine. The System also includes Mirmont Treatment Center, which provides treatment and support for substance use disorders; Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice; Main Line HealthCare, its employed multispecialty physician network; Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, a leading biomedical research organization; and Main Line Health Centers offering primary and specialty care, lab, radiology and other outpatient services in Broomall, Collegeville, Concordville, Devon, Exton, King of Prussia and Newtown Square.
Main Line Health brings together physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, researchers and other healthcare professionals across a broad network of inpatient, outpatient, home-based and community-based services. Through this integrated approach, the System delivers high-quality, comprehensive care across the continuum — from primary care and preventive services to complex specialty, surgical, trauma, emergency, rehabilitative, behavioral health, home care and hospice services — with a focus on making care accessible in the communities where people live and work.
Main Line Health also collaborates with leading clinical partners to expand access to specialized care. Through its affiliation with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, pediatric care is provided at select Main Line Health locations, including neonatal intensive care units at its acute care hospitals and Bryn Mawr Hospital’s Inpatient Pediatric Unit and Emergency Department. Jefferson Health neurosurgeons and neurointerventionalists also provide 24/7 specialized care, including neurointervention and lifesaving stroke care.