Potential Severe Weather Impact on Monday Classes and Non-Clinical Activities

August 29, 2021

TO:All Faculty and Staff

FROM:Dr. Jonathan Wilson, Chief Administrative Officer

SUBJECT: Potential Severe Weather Impact on Monday Classes and Non-Clinical Activities

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana shortly before noon today as a Category 4 storm. This highly severe weather system is expected to also impact parts of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the National Weather Service predicts the hurricane’s path to include central Mississippi, including the Jackson-metro area, beginning overnight and through tomorrow, Monday, Aug. 30.

All face-to-face classes and student activities are cancelled for tomorrow except for students that participate in patient-care activities.Online teaching activities will go forward as scheduled unless instructed otherwise by your course director. 

Students with clinical assignments should report as usual unless they are directed otherwise by their supervisor. If driving conditions prevent a student from reporting for clinical duties, he or she should contact the supervisor. 

The Rowland Medical Library will be open but unstaffed as it is during after-hours operation, and Nelson Student Union is closed tomorrow. 

The University of Mississippi Medical Center operates 24/7/365 to provide essential health care services. Our citizens and communities depend on us to be there in times of need. 

During an emergency, all faculty and staff play important roles in providing and/or supporting patient care. Each and every one of you is an essential worker.  

UMMC employees who have direct patient-care duties or who are in a position that provides critical support for clinical care should expect to report for their regularly scheduled shifts unless told otherwise by their respective supervisor. If you are unsure if your position qualifies as necessary for patient care, contact your supervisor. 

Because some members of our workforce may be personally affected by the emergency and may be unable to report to work, UMMC may need to draw staffing support from all areas of the institution to meet and sustain patient care operations and the support/infrastructure services on which our caregivers depend. 

UMMC employees who are unable to come to work due to the effects of this storm must notify their supervisors as early as possible so staffing arrangements can be made. Please bear in mind that our hospitals are experiencing extremely high volumes and it’s imperative that we maintain adequate staffing. Employees should stay in contact with their supervisors if they have any concerns about covering their work assignments. 

Supervisors of employees who are not responsible for direct patient care or who are in a critical clinical-care support role and are eligible to do their work from home under an already established temporary or flexible remote work arrangement may consider tomorrow a temporary remote work day and fulfill their regular duties under that arrangement. Thank you.