June 1, 2006

To all faculty, staff and students of the Miller School of Medicine,

As the 2006 hurricane season begins, I want to let you know that the leadership of the School has been meeting to update our emergency plan and make sure we are fully prepared to safeguard our employees, students and patients in the event of a storm.

You will be receiving a special hurricane preparedness edition of Scrip, our monthly newsletter, in the next week.  It contains important plans for preparing your home, office, laboratory and clinic for hurricane season.  You can find more information, and links to hurricane Web sites, at www.miami.edu/prepare.  We especially encourage you to make a personal hurricane plan for yourself and your family; for help creating a plan, go to www.floridadisaster.org.

Should a storm threaten South Florida, you will receive frequent updates, in the form of the University’s Storm Alert electronic newsletter and continuous communication about the School of Medicine’s preparations and status.  It is important to keep in mind that different considerations drive decisions on the Coral Gables and medical campuses, as our overriding responsibility is to our patients.

If you have any questions about plans for your department or unit, please talk to your chief of service, departmental administrator, or supervisor.  Be sure you know if you are designated as “essential,” and what that means.  The Hurricane Hotline is another important source of information before, during and after a storm;  for medical campus updates, call 305-243-6079.

Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of all of our medical school family.  Thank you for helping to ensure that the Miller School of Medicine is prepared this hurricane season.

Pascal J. Goldschmidt
Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean