Transcript Rising To The Occasion - American Hospital Association

Hurricane Sandy:
a complex storm of historic size
A number of factors contributed to Sandy’s impact
An unusual set of atmospheric conditions steered Sandy west, where
other storms typically head east…
• Hurricane Sandy was steered between a high pressure system in northern
Canada and a low pressure trough over the Southeast US
• Coincided with high tides
Rising to the Challenge:
Superstorm Sandy and the NYC
Public Hospital System
Alan Aviles, President & CEO
American Hospital Association – April 29, 2013
HHC: The Largest Municipal Healthcare
System in the U.S.
• 1.4 million patients, including 475,000
uninsured NYC residents
• 11 acute care hospitals, 4 long-term care
facilities, 6 diagnostic and treatment
centers, and more than 70 community
health centers
• 5 facilities located in flood zones; only one
in lowest lying Flood Zone A
• Post-storm 2 hospitals fully evacuated, and
one skilled nursing facility partially
evacuated
Preparing for the Worst
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3 days before: no elective
admissions; cancellation of
clinics/elective surgery
Extra food and medical supplies
Testing and topping generators
Extra staffing and cots readied
Precautionary patient transfers
• Command centers opened
• Staffing of OEM and Healthcare
Evacuation Center
• Twice daily system-wide
conference calls established
• Mobile emergency generators
positioned
Storm Surge Not Forecast
NYC Impact
• The River in the Basement
• Produced by HHC – March 2013
NYC Impact (10/28-10/29)
• Seawalls breached, flooding to large
sections of lower Manhattan
• Power lost below 33rd Street, including HHC
Central Office and administrative facilities
• Coastal sections of Brooklyn and Staten
Island flood
• Severe devastation by both fire and flood to
Queens beach communities
• Subways and road tunnels flood
NYC Devastation
NYC Devastation
NYC Devastation
NYC Devastation
NYC Devastation
Flood Zones
100 and 500-Year
Flood Zone (FEMA 1983)
Actual Flooding
Flooding: HHC Facilities
Coler
Bellevue
Coney Island
Coney Island Hospital
Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Loading Dock
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Evacuation Down the Stairs
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Coler-Goldwater
Specialty Hospital
Coler-Goldwater
Specialty Hospital
Special Medical Needs Shelters
Lessons Learned
• Preparation
Reinforced importance
• Communication
• Central Coordination
• New Issues when the emergency lasts longer:
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Provision of prescription medications to community
Provision of dialysis services
Provision of “walk-in” primary care
Provision of mental health services
Staff redeployment plans
Electronic record access that follows the patient
Supporting all staff
Our people were awesome!