As one of the nation's largest health systems, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA healthcare facilities extend beyond its home base and into the heart of hurricane territory across Florida, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina and Georgia. Preparing for the season is routine, unlike the unpredictable storms that pose a threat to patients and clinicians if they make landfall.
The preparations and safety training are the responsibilities of HCA's Enterprise Emergency Operations Center team, which is equipped with key resources that it distributes across facilities in high risk areas to ensure continuity of care in case of such an emergency.
The 200-person emergency operations team is made up of leaders across departments including clinicians, supply chain experts, risk management executives, patient logistics and care coordination experts, as well as air and ground transport liaisons.
Like the health system's headquarters, the special team is also based in Nashville, but it responds to more than 900 events per year across HCA Healthcare facilities nationwide, according to the release.
"Our job is to ensure the infrastructure is in place—the supplies, equipment, buildings and everything it takes to deliver care — and that our colleagues and patients are taken care of," Michael Wargo, RN, BSN, vice president of the Enterprise Emergency Operations Center team said in the news release. "We are proud of our response to previous major incidents and strive to make our procedures even more seamless so that continuity of care remains uncompromised."
In the event of an emergency like a hurricane, the team can work to coordinate assistance, redirect medical supplies, generators, water and even deploy flood control barriers as needed. If evacuations are necessary, HCA Healthcare uses a proprietary algorithm it developed that provides real-time triage data and can track every patient's movement as well as coordinate where alternative care options might be available for patients.
This year, the team will supply Incident Support Unit Trailers with storm readiness equipment including 3,000 flood control barriers and station them in both at-the-ready within its Gulf Coast and West Florida divisions.