• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy

Hospital Safety Insider, February 12, 2015

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!

A September 2014 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) criticizes hospital response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The report, which chronicles information taken from a survey of 174 Medicare-certified hospitals and 10 site visits to facilities in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, paints a picture of medical facilities largely unprepared for a major hurricane that flooded major metropolitan areas.

According to the report, up to 89% of hospitals surveyed faced “substantial challenges” in their response to the storm. The challenges cited mostly included problems related to infrastructure breakdowns, such as electrical and communication failures, and community collaboration issues over resources such as fuel, transportation, hospital beds, and public shelters. Also according to the report, many hospitals surveyed in the three years prior to the storm had “emergency-related deficiency citations from hospital surveyors,” in many cases the same problems that plagued them during the storm.

This is an excerpt from an article in Briefings on Hospital Safety. Visit here to log in or subscribe.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive