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Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced bipartisan legislation by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) to strengthen and evaluate emergency preparedness procedures for hospitals and long-term care facilities. Dingell wrote the Worst-Case Scenario Hospital Preparedness Act in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricane season, which caused flooding and power outages at hospitals and medical facilities from Florida to Puerto Rico, resulting in public health emergencies and, in some cases, loss of life. The bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by Florida Republican Daniel Webster, was included as a part of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act.

“During last year’s hurricane season, we were all captivated and concerned with stories of nursing homes and hospitals that lost power for significant periods of time, which unfortunately resulted in the loss of life. We have to take lessons learned from these historic disasters to ensure hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities are fully prepared when disaster strikes,” said Dingell. “My bipartisan bill will make a difference as we look to new policies and procedures to improve our preparedness and readiness for future generations.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security lists health care as one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors. The Worst-Case Scenario Hospital Preparedness Act seeks to improve emergency preparedness in the health care sector by directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HHS) to engage with the National Academy of Medicine to conduct a comprehensive study into the future threats impacting emergency preparedness procedures for hospitals, long term care facilities, and other health care facilities. The study will provide Congress with new recommendations and expert analysis on:

• current emergency preparedness policies and regulations;
• identifying new policies that better address all future threats;
• improving Federal grant programs to assist health care facilities; and
• providing updated guidelines for alternative power systems and access to clean water.

For a copy of the legislation, please click here. 

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