GNYHA Supports DOHMH Evacuation Exercise Involving 55 City Hospitals

New York City hospitals recently tested their ability to evacuate and receive large numbers of patients from an emergency incident. Sponsored by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the exercise was a Federal health care preparedness requirement. GNYHA’s role included collecting patient census and bed availability information through its Sit Stat 2.0 web-based tool. Using a set of standardized bed definitions previously developed by a GNYHA-DOHMH–led workgroup, evacuating hospitals reported the number of patients requiring evacuation post-planned discharges, and receiving hospitals reported bed availability after planned discharges. While the exercise did not involve actual patients, it used standardized bed definitions across dozens of hospitals and enabled hospitals to view one another’s data throughout the exercise.