Geonetric is Surviving the Flood of 2008

By Sandra VanWyk-Fancher, Vice President of Operations

Thank you for your concerns

Recently raging rivers have flooded many Midwest communities and the city of Cedar Rapids, where Geonetric is located, was submerged in water (view the ABC news video). We’ve been receiving many messages of care and concern from the healthcare community - we appreciate your words of support.

Our office building and data center are fully operational and were secure through the storm and flooding.  About a third to one-half of our employees live in areas where the roads have been closed to Cedar Rapids and will be telecommuting for the next week. Of our 54 employees, five had their homes severely flooded and were forced to evacuate, in some cases with little to no personal belongings.  However, we suffered no injuries or loss of life and are grateful.  As a city, we are, and will continue to be on a very limited water supply (two of our four water stations are inoperable).  Still, we are seeking ways to help others in our community who were not as fortunate.

Here in Cedar Rapids, one of our own in the Geonetric community, Mercy Medical Center had to evacuate and areas of the hospital were flooded.  We immediately relocated their hosting from within the hospital to Geonetric so that they could continue to use their Web site as a way to communicate with patients, volunteers and employees.  They have an ambitious goal of being fully operational in two weeks, as they are eager to again serve the community. When Mercy Medical Center is through this recovery phase, we’ll work with them to gather experiences and disaster recovery information so that the greater Geonetric client base may benefit.

Again, thank you for all your kindness during this humbling event.