Hospital Capacity Readiness for Emergency Preparedness and Response

This field insights brief examines opportunities to strengthen hospital capacity readiness as part of emergency preparedness and response efforts. It draws on structured discussions convened by the American Hospital Association's Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) through the Convening Leaders for Emergency and Response (CLEAR) initiative, in collaboration with the AHA's Hospital Capacity Management Consortium (HCMC), during spring 2026. Participants included hospital and health system leaders working across capacity management, patient flow, transfer operations, workforce planning and emergency preparedness. This synthesis reflects participants' shared themes and experiences and does not attribute specific comments to individuals or organizations. 

At a high level, the findings highlight five recurring opportunities for bolstering capacity management: 

• Strengthen predictive analytics. 
• Enhance surge planning. 
• Improve bed management and discharge throughput. 
• Modernize transfer center communication infrastructure. 
• Build staffing flexibility. 

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