<p>When healthcare supply chain managers prepare for disasters, they need to understand that disaster preparation is a whole-community, coordinated effort. Supply chain managers need to be familiar with the hazard scenarios likely to impact their facility or system as well as their community, develop supply chain-related plans to help respond to these scenarios, and if possible, begin developing an all-hazards cache of medical supplies to ensure a hospital or healthcare system is prepared for these hazard scenarios.</p>

Hospital Capacity Readiness for Emergency Preparedness and Response

Resource Summary

This field insights brief examines opportunities to strengthen hospital capacity readiness as part of emergency preparedness and response efforts.

Description

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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