VHA Health Foundation Convenes First Disaster Preparedness Conference Exclusively For Hospital Leaders

Leaders of American hospitals from
throughout the nation met here today for two days of talks with high-level
health care and government officials on better preparing American
communities to cope with the next inevitable disaster.



Admiral John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH, Assistant Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services, told the nearly 200 leaders
attending the VHA Health Foundation forum that disaster planning should not
begin with the actual event. Instead, disaster plans should start with
recovery and considerations of what the situation will be like 30 days
after the catastrophe occurs.



"The greatest stress on hospitals ... is after the event rather than
during or before," he said. "Yet in disaster planning, we spend time
planning for the 30 minutes before the disaster hits but rarely get to the
recovery phase in our planning exercises."



The meeting was the first devoted exclusively to helping hospital CEOs
determine if their hospital has done everything necessary to assure they
are prepared to assist their communities through man-made or natural
disasters. The VHA Health Foundation, sponsor of the event, is a national
resource for senior hospital leaders seeking information on innovation in
health care and disaster readiness.



"People turn to hospitals in a crisis because they know hospitals deal
with emergencies every single day," said Linda DeWolf, President of the VHA
Health Foundation. "And hospitals know that to meet their responsibilities
they must be ready to deal with unanticipated disruptions in
communications, staffing, facilities and logistics. Most importantly,
hospitals need to recognize that the community relationships they build now
are crucial to their ability to weather a crisis."



Aaron Brown, former CNN NewsNight anchor highlighted the need for
leaders to be in control of their response to a crisis and demonstrate
unwavering "commitment to getting it done," even in the most desperate of
situations. Brown, over a career spanning 30 years, covered such disasters
as September 11, the shootings in Columbine and earthquakes in California.
James Lee Witt, former FEMA director, was expected to share insights later
in the day Thursday from more than 25 years of managing disasters.



Agwunobi said "true preparedness" has three levels:


-- The ability to understand the unique nuances in any given hazard;


-- The assurance of "modular general competencies"; and


-- The creation of a culture of preparedness.




"Every hazard has its own unique characteristics," he said, reviewing
the nuances between preparing for an earthquake, which is a single event in
which many patients suffer crush injuries, and pandemics where half the
hospital staff could fall ill and the course of the disease could last
months or years. Planning requires that hospitals consider the unique
circumstances of each crisis and plan the appropriate response."
















General competencies include planning for the basics like power, food,
water, staffing and supplies. "Almost all hospitals now have generators
that can supply power for two to seven days, but in Florida, the average
power outage was two weeks," he said.



"Have you asked yourself the question, 'What would break down if we
didn't have power for 30 days?'" he said. "What would happen if all the
workers who fix water mains were ill? Or, what would you do if it took
three times as long as usual for pharmaceuticals to be replenished?"



Agwunobi also reminded hospital executives that hospital disaster
planning should not happen in a vacuum but must be coordinated at the
community level with the government, other health care providers and other
hospitals. "You can be as prepared as you think you can be, but if your
community is not prepared, if you're the only one, then you'll be
overwhelmed in any crisis ... If you're the only light in the darkness,
you'll quickly get all the oxygen patients; if you're the only source of
water, you'll get all the dialysis patients."



Part of hospital planning must be to create a "culture of community
preparedness," including close cooperation with other hospitals, agencies
and community resources. He urged hospitals that might normally be
competitors to share their disaster preparedness plans, adding "in a true
crisis, there is no competition."



The meeting sought to address discrepancies in hospital preparedness.
Earlier this year, a report from the Trust for America's Health said the
nation's level of emergency preparedness warranted a D+ and hospitals
didn't rank much better.



The forum agenda included a scenario planning session and the
introduction of a new tool for measuring hospital CEO preparedness. Public
release of the results of the preparedness assessment is expected early
first quarter of 2007. Those at the conference saw first-hand the
rebuilding of New Orleans with local hospital executives who managed
through Hurricane Katrina. A media panel shed light on what the press
expects from hospitals as critical sources of information during a
disaster.



The VHA Health Foundation, located in Irving, Texas, is a public
foundation created by VHA Inc. to encourage leadership and innovation in
addressing health and health care issues. Efforts benefit VHA member health
care organizations as well as non-members. The VHA Health Foundation
supports programs that focus on new approaches to health and health care
that make a difference, generate synergies that bring resources to add
value and enhance outcomes, and diffuse knowledge and best practices. For
more information, visit vhahf.


VHA Health Foundation

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