CHA News

CHA Releases Issue Paper on Hospital Disaster Preparedness    

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CHA has published an issue paper titled Disaster Preparedness: A Way of Life for California Hospitals, describing federal and state requirements for hospitals and how they work every day to be ready for disasters of all kinds, including earthquakes.

The issue paper notes that, in many situations, an evacuation — rather than a shelter-in-place strategy — is necessary for patient safety.

CHA is releasing the issue paper in advance of a joint informational hearing of the Assembly and Senate Health committees on Jan. 28 about hospital emergency preparedness and the 2030 seismic safety standard for hospitals to be fully operational. CHA’s sponsored legislation on the 2030 mandate, Senate Bill 758 (Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge), has until the end of June to be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.

Intended to help policy makers understand the breadth of planning, preparing, and training that hospitals engage in on an ongoing basis, the report includes an overview of the extensive state and federal requirements for emergency preparedness. It also includes case studies from the 2017 Tubbs fire, 2018 Woolsey fire, and 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake.

CHA also released a shorter issue brief summarizing the issue paper’s key components.