National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Watch as of 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning through 4:00p.m. Friday. Current forecast for our region is suggesting 6-8” over that timeframe. It may be snowing during the morning commute, but they do not anticipate the accumulating snow to start until late morning in our region. Central Jersey looks to be the region that will get higher snow amounts in this storm.
The Forecaster’s models are still varying and comes down to where the storm sets up over the Atlantic Ocean. Very similar to past storms. A shift of 20 miles in any direction could shift the amount of moisture and where the rain/snow line sets up and would impact our snow totals.
Operations Update
- St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center, and St. Joseph’s Healthcare & Rehab Center are open for patient care and will not be impacted by this storm.
- All staff expected to report to their scheduled shifts.
- Expect longer times for travel. Give yourself extra time to get to work. If you like to arrive ahead of your shift, we will work to find accommodations until your shift starts.
- For Thursday, February 18 – All Ambulatory/Outpatient and Physician Practices (regardless of location) will be open and have regular office hours for the morning through Noon. We will reassess the weather tomorrow morning and make a decision by 9:00a.m. about afternoon hours.
- Staff should park in their designated parking locations in the morning to ensure we have adequate space for our patients and visitors.
- Non-clinical, back office, and support services should use work from home where previously approved by management.
- At this time, we do not anticipate offering staff pick ups. If the storm changes, we will coordinate with the staffing office and will be prepared to support staff pick ups tomorrow evening.
- COVID-19 Testing sites will open (Paterson & Wayne) regularly on Thursday morning. We will monitor the storm and determine if there is a need to close early.
COVID-19 Vaccination Centers
- St. Joseph’s University Medical Center: Open for regular hours, 7:30a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center: Open for regular hours, 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Dr. Hani Awadallah School, located on Marshall Street in Paterson, will be CLOSED. All appointments scheduled for this location will be honored for the same time slot on Sunday, February 21. A separate communication will go out to community members who are impacted.
Look for next update Thursday morning. If the storm forecast changes significantly this evening, we will provide a new update later tonight.