Doctors Say Hospital Surge Capacity has Worsened

(Analyst's note: Troubling at best. This could certainly lead to diminished health care.) by Anthony L. Kimery

'All of these problems have eroded hospital surge capacity' Despite the more than $8 billion that’s been spent on hospital and public health preparedness between 2001 and 2008, the nation’s hospital surge capacity remains inadequate for disasters like large-scale terrorist bombings, wrote two doctors in a commentary in the August 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). “Disturbing signs show that [hospital] surge capacity has diminished … despite assurances from governmental and nongovernmental officials that hospitals can quickly ramp up in response to a mass casualty event,” wrote Dr. Kobi Peleg of the National Center for Trauma & Emergency Medicine Research, and Dr. Arthur Kellermann of the Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory School of Medicine. ....