A legal duty to evacuate patients from healthcare facilities in emergencies

NIMS provides healthcare facilities and others with a consistent framework for effective disaster planning and response through coordination and pooling of state and local governmental resources.8 As of 2006, FEMA also requires hospitals receiving federal emergency preparedness funding to adopt stan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Health Lawyer Vol. 25; no. 3; p. 20
Main Authors Hodge, James G., Jr, Collmer, Veda
Format Magazine Article Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago American Bar Association 01.02.2013
Subjects
Colleges & universities
Emergency management
Emergency preparedness
Government agencies
Health care industry
Hospital evacuation
Hospitals
Laws, regulations and rules
Management
Medicare
Powers and duties
New York
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Summary:NIMS provides healthcare facilities and others with a consistent framework for effective disaster planning and response through coordination and pooling of state and local governmental resources.8 As of 2006, FEMA also requires hospitals receiving federal emergency preparedness funding to adopt standards consistent with their emergency plans.9 As a result of the Public Health Service Act,10 the federal government has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars through state agencies to hospitals to improve emergency preparedness.11 The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006 ("PAHPA")12 reorganized federal public health emergency responses after Hurricane Katrina.13 PAHPA authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") to fund only those hospital preparedness programs that meet certain benchmark requirements.14 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") requires participating hospitals to develop and implement comprehensive emergency plans, potentially including evacuation procedures.15 A litany of corresponding state laws and licensing standards similarly require, fund, or strongly encourage hospitals and other healthcare entities to prepare for emergencies.16 During declared emergencies, state or local governments (in some jurisdictions) may issue emergency orders to require healthcare entities to evacuate patients.17 For instance, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reportedly ordered the evacuation of New York Downtown Hospital and Manhattan Veterans Affairs Hospital before the arrival of Superstorm Sandy.18 Legal Ramifications for Failure to Plan and Evacuate From these legal provisions arise duties among healthcare entities to plan and prepare for response efforts, including patient evacuations.
ISSN:0736-3443
2163-0208