The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that if the H1N1 flu spreads as predicted, up to 40 percent of the health care workforce could be absent due to illness or their role as a caretaker.
“If these predictions hold true, the shortage of hospital staff would be unprecedented and we will be challenged in ways we’ve never before experienced” states CHA president C. Duane Dauner. “It is important that we act now and do what we can to prepare. I urge every hospital CEO to join me on this timely call.”
The call will be hosted by Dauner with lead speaker Gilberto Chavez, MD, State Epidemiologist and Chief of the Center for Infectious Disease, from the California Department of Public Health. Other CDPH staff participating include Kathleen J. Billingsley, RN, Deputy Director, Center for Health Care Quality and Susan Fanelli, Assistant Deputy Director, Public Health Emergency Preparedness.
On the state level, CHA has been working with government agencies to coordinate preparedness efforts and identify concerns including a scarcity of resources (respirators, vaccines, antivirals and ventilators) as well as possible solutions. CHA has been actively participating in weekly conference calls led by CDPH.
In addition, CHA’s Hospital Preparedness Program has developed a one-page checklist that CEOs can use to assess their hospital’s level of preparedness for responding to the pandemic. The checklist addresses key plans and processes that must be in place as well as equipment, resources and staff training. The checklist will be available and distributed to all member CEOs prior to the conference call. The CHA Hospital Preparedness Program is also developing a more detailed planning checklist for hospital disaster coordinators and infection control preventionists to assist with their planning responsibilities.
Faculty
C. Duane Dauner, CEO, California Hospital Association
Gilberto F. Chavez, MD, MPH, State Epidemiologist and Chief of the Center for Infectious Disease, CDPH
Other Participants Include:
Kathleen Billingsley, RN, Deputy Director, Center for Health Care Quality, CDPH
Susan Fanelli, Assistant Deputy Director, Public Health Emergency Preparedness, CDPH
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