‘Five Days At Memorial’ on Apple TV+: Is the Hospital Still Operating Today? Tenet Quickly Sold It
The miniseries on Apple TV+, Five Days At Memorial, details the tragic story of one hospital during and after the actual events of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The drama is based on the true story, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, by Sherri Fink. Although the producers dramatize the events with actors, the story is not any less accurate. Showbiz Cheat Sheet has everything you need to know about the real Memorial Hospital and whether it’s still operating today.
What hospital is ‘Five Days At Memorial’ based on?
Apple TV+’s true story, Five Days At Memorial, depicts what happened at Memorial Medical Center during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, the hospital had several names before becoming Memorial in 1996.
The Southern Baptist Convention founded the hospital in 1926 as Southern Baptist Hospital. Then in 1990, it merged with Mercy Hospital to become Mercy-Baptist Medical Center. When Tenet Healthcare purchased the combined hospitals, the company renamed it Memorial Medical Center in 1996. But, locals continued to call it “Memorial Baptist.”
Is the hospital still operating today from ‘Five Days At Memorial?‘
The hospital portrayed in Five Days At Memorial, Memorial Medical Center is still operating today under another new name — Ochsner Baptist Medical Center. Shortly after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Tenet Healthcare sold the hospital to the Ochsner Health System, hence the name change.
Is the helipad depicted in ‘Five Days At Memorial’ still functional?
In Five Days At Memorial, the helipad became a primary way for doctors to evacuate patients. However, its stability came into question. The physicians could not guarantee that the old helipad could support the weight of helicopters. Throughout the series, the helipad held strong. It continues to be in use today.
“Because of our partnership with Acadian Ambulance, Flight Care has the ability to operate out of two helicopters,” the Ochsner website reads. “We assisted in evacuating three hospitals in Lake Charles during Hurricane Laura and had to transport several neonates to New Orleans via ground ambulance. These were patients that would have been flown in a helicopter if we have the ability to configure the second for babies. You have ensured that babies in our care will have access to this resource in the future.”
The donations given to the hospital helped facilitate more use of the helipad in recent years.
How did the producers recreate the helipad?
In an exclusive interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, director Carlton Cuse reflected on recreating the helipad in Five Days At Memorial.
“It’s a little bit like asking a magician, what is the secrecy or trick,” the director teased. “I think the goal is that you won’t understand how we did it, but we combine a lot of different elements. The intention there was to just show how perilous it was. The helipad was 85 feet above the top of a six story parking garage.”
The first three episodes of Five Days at Memorial hit Apple TV+ on Aug. 12, 2022. The remaining episodes drop every Friday following the premiere.
