Harvey's Impact on Hospitals
Hello for my
first blog post I wanted to post about the recent situation that has burdened
Houston, Texas. Hurricane Harvey has posted record numbers for rainfall with
49.2 inches of precipitation. Harvey has destroyed neighborhoods, schools, and
even hospitals are at risk. Hospitals have had to cancel appointments and surgeries
and at some hospitals have had to move patients out to receive care. Unfortunately
for these hospitals the worst has yet to come because even after the precipitation goes down people
who have lost homes and jobs avoid medical treatment or seek charitable care.
From a management
stand point these hospitals are going to have to make some controversial decisions.
One of the biggest decisions I feel that is going to have to be made is the
care that is given after the precipitation has gone down. Food sources and
drinking water have been contaminated, which leads to several problems such as
waterborne disease like Cholera and typhoid, and foodborne diseases like
Norovirus and E. Coli. If patients come in with cases of those sicknesses they
can be taking beds away from others with cases that require a higher need for
medical care. If there is a way for these hospitals to open clinics to allow victims
of Harvey to come and receive care it could in turn help them down the road.
But at the same time do they have it with in their budget and resources to take
that preventive step.
Timely first post. This is a huge public health issue as you point out. It will be interesting to follow.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting to think about all the decisions that will have to be made. You point out that one controversial decision will be regarding charitable care. Many of the affected hospitals will have to incur costs associated with salaries for displaced employees, facility reconstruction/recovery, etc on top of charitable care for the community. Times like these reinforce the need to have a well-developed strategic plan and vision that can guide decision making during tumultuous times.
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan, my name is Melissa Rountree and I am a Healthcare Business Analyst/Associate for Knowesis, Inc. I am a retired Major in the Air Force and served in Healthcare Management for over 21 years. This was a very interesting first topic to choose and the situation in Houston caused by Harvey could lead to a huge Public Health Issue. I worked a couple of years in Medical Emergency Management and this topic fits right into that lane with my FEMA training of the National Disaster Management System. This disaster could be very costly in the long run as many of the areas that flooded rebuild, and as the Hospitals and clinics in the area recover and try to sustain operations in the current environment.
ReplyDelete