Rebuilding Emergency Care After Hurricane Sandy.
A freestanding, 911-receiving emergency department was implemented at Bellevue Hospital Center during the recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy to compensate for the increased volume experienced at nearby hospitals. Because inpatient services at several hospitals remained closed for months, emergency volume increased significantly. Thus, in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health and other partners, the Health and Hospitals Corporation and Bellevue Hospital Center opened a freestanding emergency department without on-site inpatient care. The successful operation of this facility hinged on key partnerships with emergency medical services and nearby hospitals. Also essential was the establishment of an emergency critical care ward and a system to monitor emergency department utilization at affected hospitals. The results of this experience, we believe, can provide a model for future efforts to rebuild emergency care capacity after a natural disaster such as Hurricane Sandy. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-4).
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, and Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
David C
DC
Lee
Department of Emergency Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York.
Silas W
SW
Smith
Department of Emergency Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York.
Christopher M
CM
McStay
Department of Emergency Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York.
Ian
I
Portelli
Department of Emergency Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York.
Lewis R
LR
Goldfrank
Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, New York.
Gregg
G
Husk
Department of Emergency Medicine and Office of the Commissioner, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York.
Nirav R
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2044-7865
NR
Shah
Hurricane Sandy; disaster recovery; emergency care; freestanding emergency departments; hospital closures