Census of Hospital and Nursing Home Emergency Power Systems Will Help Identify Vulnerabilities
One of the most important steps jurisdictions should undertake when seeking to bolster emergency power resilience for hospitals and nursing homes is conducting a confidential census of the emergency power systems in these facilities. This census will identify single generator facilities, facilities relying on outdated generators and facilities with limited onsite fuel storage capacity. The census will also determine whether facilities have enough air conditioning connected to emergency power to keep patients safe during an outage that occurs during periods of hot weather.
Jurisdictions that understand their emergency power vulnerabilities will be in a much better position to mitigate these vulnerabilities before the next disaster or extended power outage.
Thankfully, the work of Powered for Patients in conducting a census of the emergency power systems in 80 Los Angeles County hospitals provides a roadmap other jurisdictions can use to conduct their own census.
+Data Captured in LA County Was Protected from Freedom of Information Requests +
When the census of emergency power systems in Los Angeles County hospitals was completed, the EMS Agency learned that 14 of the 80 hospitals that participated in the census had only one generator. Given their smaller size relative to larger hospitals, these 14 facilities only needed one generator to meet all of the emergency power requirements dictated by the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule.
Following the census, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times sought the identity of the 14 single generator hospitals. The EMS Agency declined this request, citing its privacy pledge to the hospitals that completed the census. Thankfully, because the LA County project was funded by the HHS Hospital Preparedness Program, HHS officials determined that the data collected through the census was protected data and not subject to Freedom of Information Requests (FOIAs).
Partnership with State or Local Hospital Associations and Nursing Home Associations Key to Success
When conducting a census of hospital or nursing home emergency power systems, it’s important for the jurisdiction to work with their state associations representing hospitals and nursing homes. At a minimum, jurisdictions should brief these associations on the census and explain that its purpose is to support disaster planning by enabling the jurisdiction to identify facilities with outdated generators, no source of redundant emergency power or limited onsite fuel storage capacity. This information will make it easier for a jurisdiction to develop plans to support specific facilities. For example, in cases where a temporary generator is needed, census data on generator size will also enable jurisdictions to deploy the correct size generator to a facility needing a temporary replacement.
Emergency management agencies and health departments conducting a census should also provide assurances to facilities and their state trade associations that census data will not be shared with a jurisdiction’s regulatory agency enforcing emergency power system compliance for hospitals and nursing homes.
Jurisdictions are encouraged to ask their associations representing hospitals and nursing homes to alert their members to a forthcoming census and encourage participation. Finally, when a report is developed on the census findings, jurisdictions should schedule meetings with their hospital and nursing home associations to provide a briefing on census findings.
To the extent census findings lead jurisdictions to develop new protocols to address vulnerabilities, trusted relationships between a jurisdiction and its hospitals and nursing homes, and the trade associations representing these facilities, can make adoption of new protocols an easier process. (In LA County, the EMS Agency shared its proposed protocols with a representative sample of hospital facility directors and emergency managers. Based on feedback from this group, several changes were made to the LA County EMS Agency protocols.)
P4P has developed an Emergency Power System Census Template that can be tailored to the local jurisdiction. To receive an emailed copy of the Census Template, please complete this contact form.