Resource allocation: an approach for enhancing hospital resiliency.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Disaster Preparedness
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Hospitals require robust strategies to manage patient surges during catastrophic events.
• Existing surge capacity models often rely on external resources, which may be unavailable during widespread disasters.
• Internal resource reallocation is a critical but often underutilized component of disaster response planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Hospital Emergency Support Function (HESF) model.
• To enable hospitals to augment medical surge capacity using internal personnel reallocation.
• To provide an alternative to external resource utilization during medical surge events.

Main Methods:

• Assembled a panel of subject matter experts (clinicians, emergency coordinators, planners).
• Conceptualized the HESF model framework based on National Response Framework Emergency Support Functions.
• Validated the model using a modified Delphi method with hospital decision-makers.
• Stratified hospital personnel based on contributions to medical surge capacity.

Main Results:

• Identified 'Hospital Emergency Support Functions' (HESFs) as personnel pivotal to medical surge capacity.
• Classified non-critical or ancillary personnel as divertible to HESFs.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of reallocating internal staff to enhance surge capacity.
• Established the HESF model as a viable internal resource strategy.

Conclusions:

• The HESF model offers a structured approach for hospitals to enhance medical surge capacity.
• Internal personnel reallocation is a practical strategy for managing medical and public health crises.
• The HESF model improves hospital resilience and preparedness for disasters.