Preparedness

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy produced flooding and record-breaking storm surges along the eastern coastline and inland. This presented challenges to acute care hospitals affecting their ability to provide uninterrupted healthcare services. While hospitals may have been prepared for a surge of patients and short-term loss of electrical power, the storm's devastation caused many hospitals in the area (by some estimates at least eight in New York City and New Jersey) to be evacuated. Other hospitals, that were able to shelter-in-place, accepted patients from those without power. At one point, there were 100 facilities including hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities in New Jersey on generator power. 

Planning continues to be one of the keys factors to ensuring hospital resiliency. In support of this, YNHHS-CEPDR has developed a Pre-Storm Hospital Checklist that may provide additional assistance in preparing for a disaster. For more information, click here.

YNHHS-CEPDR also offers a free training course developed in partnership with FEMA on planning for the unique needs for evacuation and shelter-in-place of people with medical dependencies. Information on this course can be found here. 

As many of the events of the past few weeks continue to remind us, weather emergencies provide unique challenges to healthcare facilities.  One of those challenges may be caring for staff, some of whom may have to sleep on-site, and helping them ensure that their families are safe at home.  For more information about personal and family preparedness, click here.  

One of the most difficult decisions for a hospital is the need to evacuate.   Evacuating a healthcare facility or suspending select patient services has an economic impact on the hospital and the health of the surrounding community. While there remains significant variability in terms of economic estimates for Hurricane Sandy, The New York Times has placed the estimated impact at $50 billion. The area from Delaware to Rhode Island was declared a federal disaster area on October 30, 2012. The disaster declaration provides an opportunity for healthcare facilities to begin registering for assistance and obtaining reimbursement from FEMA.  YNHHS-CEPDR has developed A Quick Guide: FEMA Reimbursement for Acute Care Hospitals that provides an overview of FEMA's reimbursement process and outlines the tasks and corresponding timelines that must be met by acute care hospitals to successfully apply to FEMA for reimbursement of declared disaster related expenses. For additional information, please contact us at (203) 688-5000 or center@ynhh.org.

Further Information

The Yale-Tulane ESF 8 Planning and Response Program has produced several reports compiled from open sources providing an overview of Hurricane Sandy in the tri-state area and reports from several state and federal agencies, including FEMA and the American Red Cross. The reports can be accessed here.