Parents wait for news of daughter
Ann and Ronald Pavlick of Georges Township are waiting anxiously to hear about their daughter, Rhonda Oros, who is working at Tulane Hospital in New Orleans and is stranded by the floods from Hurricane Katrina. “I haven’t heard from her for two days now, not since Tuesday night,’ Mrs. Pavlick said Thursday afternoon. “The hospital was running on generator power, and the generators were going out and they didn’t know why. I called the Red Cross and they said they have no telecommunications system set up yet. They took my name, her name and the hospital’s number and said when they get the system up, they’ll call me.’
Rhonda Oros, 38, is the only child of Ann, a retired nurse who worked at Minor Family Practice in Sabraton, W.Va., and Ronald, a retired woodshop teacher from the Albert Gallatin Area School District.
Oros, who is single, is a registered respiratory therapist who works in the neo-natal and pediatric units at Tulane Hospital.
A 1985 graduate of Albert Gallatin High School and 1987 graduate of St. Francis Respiratory School from the former St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh, Oros previously worked at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown and then in Virginia and Kansas before moving to New Orleans five years ago. Mrs. Pavlick said her daughter lives on Burgundy Street in New Orleans, two blocks from Bourbon Street.
“She was starting to get prepared for the hurricane last Thursday, closing her shutters and moving her furniture to high levels, boarding the windows,’ Mrs. Pavlick said.
Although an evacuation of the city was ordered, Oros was not allowed to leave New Orleans. She was on the work list for first duty at Tulane Hospital and was ordered into work Saturday.
“She called me Saturday when she went into the hospital,’ said Mrs. Pavlick. “I had heard that Katrina was a category 5, and she said she heard that as she was going out the door to work.’
Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on Monday, and the Pavlicks last heard from their daughter Tuesday night when floodwater had invaded the first floor of the hospital, which had gone on generator power.
“When I talked to her Tuesday, the conditions were deteriorating,’ said Mrs. Pavlick, who had heard that 1,200 people were evacuated to Tulane Hospital. “They were not able to flush the commodes. There was no air conditioning and the heat was 110 degrees. When they were not on duty, they were not able to take a bath. The conditions have become deplorable.’
Mrs. Pavlick said her daughter was tired and was having difficulty sleeping.
“She said when she was off-duty, it was impossible to sleep. She tried to rest on an emergency room gurney, but she didn’t sleep. When I talked to her, she’d had maybe four hours’ sleep.’
According to Mrs. Pavlick, Oros didn’t know anything about her own home, which she had not seen since she left for work last Saturday.
“She said we know more on the outside than they do at the hospital,’ said Mrs. Pavlick. “Some of the girls she works with think they have homes to go to and they feel they will be back to work next week. They have no idea of the devastation yet.’
There are plans to evacuate the patients and hospital staff to Houston, but Oros must remain at the hospital until all the patients are gone.
“We will be bringing her home,’ said Mrs. Pavlick. “She’s going to need to come home and mentally and physically rest. When she leaves the hospital, it will be with the clothes on her back. That’s what she has. Her car was in the hospital parking lot. We have no idea when we can get to it or find out about it.’
The Pavlicks, who are members of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church in Fairchance, have Oros on several prayer lists.
Mrs. Pavlick also has words of encouragement for Oros’ friends: “Tell the people that I know she’s going to be OK. She’s in God’s hands. She’s a good girl and doing what she believes in – taking care of the babies in the hospital. If she didn’t care, she would have left. We know we will see our daughter again.’