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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Andrea Hassol, MSPH, Abt Associates Inc., 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138, 617-349-2488, andrea_hassol@abtassoc.com and Richard Zane, MD, Dept of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115.

The hospital sector in most American cities operates very near capacity, as do the nursing home and home health sectors. Should a mass casualty event occur, hospitals could clear approximately one-quarter of their beds by delaying admissions and discharging many patients to other settings of care (which would then be past capacity). Medical centers could operate beyond capacity for up to 3 days but could not maintain this capacity much longer before additional inpatient capacity would be needed. Many metro areas have experienced hospital closures in recent years; these facilities could make ideal surge capacity sites for the most ambulatory, stable patients so that major medical centers would have room for patients with intensive/emergency needs. Former hospitals would be better for this purpose than churches, hotels or schools, as they were originally constructed for this purpose and have no other purpose to which they must eventually return. This project explored how former (shuttered) community hospitals could be used to expand capacity, including staffing, equipment and supplies; what advance planning would be required; and what legal and regulatory barriers would need to be addressed.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will learn use of the Facility Checklist to assess shuttered hospitals, will understand the advance preparation and planning tool, and will be recognite legal and regulatory issues that require attention.

Keywords: Emergency, Infrastructure

Related Web page: www.ahrq.gov/research/shuttered/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation