Hospitals may not have practical staffing plans for alternate care sites

In a weird dichotomy, poll results indicate that 76% of hospitals have developed plans for alternate care sites during an emergency, but only 20% of those facilities have realistic staffing plans for those alternate sites.

Trust for America's Health reported these results, which the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology collected from 630 of its members. The statistics are part of a larger Trust for America's Health report titled, Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism 2007.

"This dissonance between planning for alternative care sites while failing to have personnel plans appropriate to a surge in patients reveals major shortcomings in U.S. hospital planning," the report's overview states.