How hospitals braced for the snowstorm

Hospitals and health systems have been planning to deal with a powerful winter storm expected to affect most Americans east of the Rockies.

Some cities in the eastern U.S. are looking at one to two feet of snow, and some of their biggest snow totals in years. Cities including Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. may get their biggest snowfall totals in a decade.

I contacted hospital leaders and they outlined some of their plans.

Staffing: Health systems are bringing in more doctors, nurses and other staff to run their hospitals. It may involve keeping some folks on site or in hotels in walking distance.

Supplies: Hospitals have also had to order extra medicine and other critical supplies, as well as extra food, in case supply deliveries are interrupted. Hospitals are also getting extra backup generators in the event of power outages, and fuel to run them.

Patients: They have to determine which patients in the hospital can go home safely. It’s not just a matter of their recovery. Hospitals can’t send patients home to areas where roads are covered. Hospitals will discharge who they can, but some may have to stay. They also have to decide if some patients getting care at home need to be brought into the hospital.

Outside the hospital: Some patients are getting care at home, and more health systems are running hospital-at-home programs. But those patients may have to come into the hospital for safety, if systems determine nurses can’t get to those patients.

Hospitals also are working with local and county officials to make sure roads to their facilities are getting first priority. Hospital emergency leaders stress the value of building strong relationships with local and state officials, because it pays off when it’s time to respond to weather events.

If there’s a takeaway beyond the storm, it’s the need to talk regularly with area emergency officials and local leaders. In a crisis, hospital leaders say that effort will pay dividends.