Desai Samir P, Gordon Jimmy, Harris Curtis Andrew
College of Public Health, Institute of Disaster Management, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
Memorial Health University Medical Center, Savannah, GA, United States.
Front Public Health. 2019 Jun 11;7:149. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00149. eCollection 2019.
Coastal hospitals are often faced with the challenging decision to either evacuate or shelter-in-place in anticipation of a hurricane predicted to make landfall. The costs associated with hospital evacuation not only include transportation of patients to inland areas, but also the loss of revenue due to interruption of regular operations and the cost of potential damage to the hospital's infrastructure. Financial data provided by Memorial Health University Medical Center (MUMC, Savannah, Georgia) such as average inpatient and outpatient revenues, personnel wages, and transportation costs, were used to estimate the potential economic impact of hurricane evacuations on a coastal hospital. The results indicate that even prior to the arrival of tropical storm force winds, the hospital will incur an estimated total expenditure of approximately $9.5 million which includes evacuation expenses and loss of revenue due to disruption of regular services. In case the hurricane makes landfall, revenue losses will continue to accumulate until the hospital is able to resume regular operations. The cost of relocating patients back to MUMC after the hurricane event and the cost of any hurricane-related damage to the hospital infrastructure must also be taken into consideration. In conclusion, even though hospital evacuation for hurricanes may be unavoidable in certain circumstances, the financial burden placed upon the hospital may be mitigated to a certain extent by forward planning, infrastructure upgrades, and the rapid resumption of regular hospital function.
在预计飓风登陆时，是疏散病人还是就地避难。医院疏散相关的成本不仅包括将病人转运至内陆地区的费用，还包括因常规运营中断导致的收入损失以及医院基础设施潜在损坏的成本。纪念健康大学医学中心（位于佐治亚州萨凡纳市的MUMC）提供的财务数据，如平均住院和门诊收入、人员工资以及运输成本等，被用于估算飓风疏散对一家沿海医院可能产生的经济影响。结果表明，即使在热带风暴风力到来之前，医院预计将产生约950万美元的总支出，其中包括疏散费用以及因常规服务中断造成的收入损失。如果飓风登陆，收入损失将持续累积，直到医院能够恢复常规运营。飓风过后将病人转回MUMC的成本以及医院基础设施任何与飓风相关的损坏成本也必须考虑在内。总之，尽管在某些情况下医院因飓风进行疏散可能不可避免，但通过提前规划、基础设施升级以及迅速恢复医院常规功能，医院所承受的财务负担在一定程度上可以得到缓解。
