Christus Hospital – St. Mary began transporting patients at noon Saturday to Christus St. Michael in Texarkana, Texas.

St. Mary associates are in the process of reaching out to patients’ families to let them know about the transport. At this time, the Emergency Department at St. Mary will remain open.

As of Friday, St. Mary activated a disaster response plan and began preparing the hospital and staff for the possibility of Gustav hitting this area. Christus Hospital – St. Elizabeth and St. Mary directors, managers and Executive Leadership Team will hold regular update meetings over the next several days to keep abreast of the storm’s advances. The hospital plans to continue to keep regular contact with city, regional and state emergency officials regarding the storm and act accordingly to evacuations and other directives.